Mass Effect Prime: Fusion Protocol
by OrderlyAnarchist
Summary: Nazara was destroyed, ripped apart by the organics he once sought to exterminate.  But this eventuality had been anticipated.  They had plans for it.  They did not have plans for the consequences.  Major AU.  M for language, intense blood and violence.
1. Prologue: Fusion

After spending a month trying to conquer a bad case of writers block for The Reasons We Fight, I realized that forcing words out wasn't going to help. The damn story was turning into a dramafest, which is something I think none of us want. Anyway, I've had this idea kicking around in my head for a long time, but it wasn't until I read the completely awesome story "Primed to Defend the Universe," by the similarly awesome writer LawrenceSnake that I received the inspiration necessary to actually start this crossover.

Lawrence Snake has also volunteered his services as my beta-reader, so I want everyone to give a big round of applause, even if nobody can hear it.

Anyway, this is a crossover between my two favourite game series, Metroid and Mass Effect. You probably figured out once you clicked the Mass Effect/Metroid crossover button, but I feel the urge to point it out anyway. It takes place immediately after the events of the first game, will follow some completely AU versions of ME2 missions, and then a bunch of other crazy stuff will happen. If you wanted ME2 campaign starring Samus Aran and nothing else, I suggest you look elsewhere.

Actually, I don't suggest that. Even if you were looking for the aforementioned campaign starring Samus, you should read this anyway.

What? You want me to shut up and let you read the story? Fine. Here's the intro. Chapter one should hopefully be up in a few days.

/\\/\  
>\\\/

With a piercing mechanical scream, the reaper, known as Nazara to it's kin, exploded, it's metallic chassis blasting apart in a massive pulse of red energy. Even in death, it's wreckage killed many, but the results were for naught. The reaper vanguard had failed, and it's mechanical brethren could no longer harvest with impunity. Their prey could rebuild, and the reapers were trapped in dark space.

Nazara's death marked a new era for the denizens of the Milky Way. For the governing bodies, their armies, and the heroes that led them; it was time to prepare for war.

To the reapers, it was time to prepare there last resort. The failure of the citadel relay and death of the vanguard had not been expected. Their organic prey had never before delayed the invasion.

The relay had failed, Nazara had failed, and the reapers were locked in dark space, unable to perform their mission. But this had been anticipated. The reapers always had a plan.

Initiate function 7-11Z.

The command spread throughout the mechanical fleet, it's signal transmitting to every warship, every harvester of life, before reaching it's designated target.

The target, a construct of monstrous size, had been constructed over millions of years, a last resort device to be used when all other means were exhausted. Any scientist of the galaxy would have dismissed the machines purpose as an impossibility, something that went against all laws of reality. But they were organics. They had not had millions of years to discover the workings of the universe. Their organic beliefs were irrelevant and they, along with their owners, would perish in the purge.

The floating spire, thrice the size of the citadel, activated, the resulting hum of machinery loud enough to be heard light-years away. If any organic being could understand the device's function, the prospects would terrify them. This machine, unlike anything before it, did not operate solely in it's own universe. This device operated within two separate planes of the multiverse.

You see, the multiverse consists of various parallel realities, each one an almost exact physical copy of the last. Galaxies, solar systems, even asteroids could be found precisely location as their counterparts within fellow realities, the only apparent differences created by the different species that inhabited it. There is one other difference however. A difference so subtle, so minute, that even a reaper might not notice it. Each reality, each universe is always shifted in one direction. The distance might be kilometers or it might be mere nanometers, but it was always there, the single geographic difference between realities.

The purpose of the reaper construct was to search for one specific reality. In the target reality, the reapers position in dark space would be the target universes equivalent of the Serpent Nebula. Once that universe was found, the machine would unleash a single burst of energy so powerful, that for a split-second, the reapers location would be caught between two realities. During this brief state of trans-universal limbo, the reapers would cover the vast distance between the citadel and darkspace and reappear all around the station. Their organic prey would not stand a chance. But even for machines, things rarely go so well.

A mere hour after activation, the reality merging device found it's target. As it prepared to fire, a single brief announcement echoed throughout the dark fleet. Fusion protocol initiated.

As the three-word sentence echoed through dark space, a massive pulse was unleashed from the tip of the reaper construct, projecting enough energy to break out of the universal barrier and impact with another, temporarily linking the two realities. But something went wrong. Before the reapers could act, something else happened. Something so improbable that reapers hadn't even considered it. It was a statistical impossibility.

The idea of a pulse of the same power impacting their reality had not been anticipated.

Both realities were completely merged, trapped in an unstable energy flux in which both universes existed simultaneously, identical galaxies appearing side by side. This state lasted for only a fraction of a second, barely noticeable by the beings of each universe. But it was long enough.

As the two realities separated once more, they shifted, and in no small way. Both realities were yanked towards their counterparts, moving closer together until their locations were mirror images of the other. The effects were catastrophic. Across both universes, various planets, stars, entire systems even, swapped places, taking their inhabitants with them. Fleets were stolen from one universe, and deposited in the other. Entire races were spread across two separate universes, left to fend for themselves in a brand new reality.

The changes were small too. In some rare cases, individuals were thrown through reality, and dropped in a random sector of space. The majority of these individuals were killed instantly, dropped in empty space or embedded in a solid object. A select few however, were lucky enough to be dropped somewhere habitable.

Most of these people were common civilians, picked out of their homes. One, however, was unique. Born of humans but raised by Chozo, Samus Aran could be one of the only hopes of her new galaxy. But against a threat so dire, can even she turn the tide?

/\\/\  
>\\\/

So as I stated before, chapter one should be up in a few days. I've already got the first 5000 words written down and the words keep flowing.

If you worried that I've dropped The Reasons We Fight, don't be. I am most assuredly not finished with that story. There's much to cover still. I just need to figure out how to write it.

Lastly, being the rebel that I am, I'm putting all disclaimers at the bottom of the page instead of the top. You don't like it? If your complaining about that, you really need to find better things to do in life...

I don't own Mass Effect, Metroid, any of the series characters, weapons, unique technologies, planets, systems, galaxies... you get the picture. I wish I did, but I don't. Those are owned by Bioware, Retro Studios, and all the other Metroid making companies who's names I don't remember.

Toxic out.


	2. Chapter 1: Confusion

"Whoa!" the Normandy's one-of-a-kind pilot, Jeffery 'Joker' Moreau exclaimed.

"Something wrong?" Shepard, the famous spectre and commander of the Normandy asked curiously, entering the bridge.

"Yeah," Joker replied. "The sensors for... everything just went insane for a moment."

"Any idea what caused it?"

"Not a clue," the pilot answered. "Even a solar flare doesn't mess them up that bad. It was almost like the ship was in two places at once."

"I'm pretty sure the Normandy's temporal distortion device is still a work in progress," the spectre said jokingly. "Just keep an eye on the sensors. I'll go down and check with engineering, see if they did something while installing those upgrades. If anything out of the ordinary happens, contact me immediately."

"Sure thing Commander," Joker acknowledged. "But are you sure your visit to engineering doesn't have to do with something, or someone, else?"

Shepard gave a tired groan in response as he exited the the bridge, completely unaware of the firestorm the Normandy would soon sail into.

/\\/\

\/\\/

In an area not so far away, the G.F.S. Shadowlurker experienced similar readings. The Shadowlurker, or "Shadow" as it's crew affectionately called her, was a Federation stealth frigate, shadow class. The frigate was small by Federation standards, only 400 meters long, and lacked the firepower of its more combat oriented sister ship, the Griffin. What it lacked in firepower and size however, it more than made up for with cutting edge distortion technology. Shadow could remain permanently cloaked, and had the capability to distort enemy sensors of all types, effectively rendering the ship invisible.

It also had the interesting ability to distort a small area nearby it. Any target smaller than the Shadow herself could also be made invisible, subjected to the same stealth that the she herself employed. Though the devices military use was rather limited, as the only ships small enough to be affected by the device were Phoenix class transports, Arhur class patrol ships, and various fighter craft, it was perfect for disguising civilian ships that found themselves to close to a space pirate frigate.

Due to this combination of factors, shadow class stealth frigates were not employed in direct combat. Instead, they were used for what what essentially amounted to guerrilla warfare... in space. Because of the ships near impervious stealth system, shadow class frigates could get in quick, disable several ships, and then alert all nearby G.F. reinforcements to the enemy location. By the time the enemy ships could return fire, the frigate would already be gone, soon replaced with an entire federation fleet.

So when an ensign detected incoming ships on her sensors, the crew was well rehearsed. They moved to their stations, ready to disrupt whatever activities the space pirates might be up to now. This time however, something was different. More and more signatures were detected, hundreds of ships of all sizes announcing their presence to the advanced detection arrays mounted on the Shadows bow. This was no patrol group. This, was an entire space pirate fleet, of a size never before seen.

Onboard the ship, the captain was in the process of alerting the Olympus fleet, the only one capable of intercepting the pirates in time. In just one hours time, a battle unlike any seen in this galaxy would be fought, and one unknown and unlucky frigate, no more than 200 meters long, would be witness to it all.

/\\/\

\/\\/

Samus' eyes snapped open, quickly taking in her surroundings. Wherever she was, it wasn't Aether. In fact, she seemed to be in some sort of metropolis. _ But what planet is th - _Samus started suddenly, interrupting her own thoughts. In front of her was a myriad of different races, each species unknown to her scanners. She could tell from the shocked, terrified, and otherwise dumbfounded looks she herself was receiving, that these aliens had a similar train of thought.

For this reason, it really didn't surprise her when a large troop of what appeared to be police officers approached, looking nervously at the heavily armoured figure in front of them. They were all members of what seemed to be the areas most common race, blue skinned aliens who looked strikingly similar to humans with the exception of a collection of tendril-like formations that intertwined at the top of their heads, but their language was completely unknown. _Where am I?,_ Samus asked herself as the officers approached. _How did I even get here?_ One of the aliens stepped our from the group, obviously the leader. _This won't end well. _The man? woman? in charge opened her mouth, obviously beginning to speak.

"Attention unknown... thing," the blue skinned alien demanded, unable to tell whether the armoured figure in front of her was an actual living creature or just some form of mech. "We have you surrounded. There are snipers on the rooftops above you. I don't know what kind of armour that is, but it won't do you any good when you have that many weapons trained on you."

Samus was only half listening, she couldn't understand the language, so it wouldn't have done much good anyway. Instead, she was currently in the process of scanning the aliens weapons, as well as the holographic devices they seemed to use for data storage and communications. What she found shocked her greatly. The weapons were primitive ballistic devices. They used a material unknown to her scanners to launch tiny shards at velocities many times the speed of sound. It would take many minutes of sustained fire to inflict any noticeable damage to her suits energy reserves.

The holo-tools were much more interesting. Her scanner easily broke through their basic firewalls and she was able to extract, among other things, a file called the codex which had information on all the species, technologies, history, and politics of these unknown races. Apparently, the race she was dealing with now was called the asari. They lived for up to 1000 years, were mono-gendered, and reproduced through some sort of mind meld, which could be done with any sapient species. They were natural biotics, though what a biotic was Samus did not yet know. She was also able to use this codex to create an impromptu translating program for the asari language. Meanwhile, the asari police officer was still speaking.

"You will remove your armour and weapons, and you will accompany us to the station where you will tell us exactly how you arrived here and what your purpose is. Will you comply?"

Now able to understand the language, Samus felt the strange urge to laugh inside her helmet. From one hostile world to another. _At least the hostility here is justified... and the air's not toxic._

Reiterating her question, the asari asked one more, "will you comply with our wishes?

Making a few quick adjustments, Samus modified her impromptu translator to allow it to translate her own language to that of the asari. As it turns out, luminoth translators make that a much easier process.

"My name is Samus Aran," she proudly stated. "Bounty hunter for the Galactic Federation. I don't know how I got here, I don't know where here is, but I will not comply with your demands."

Her statement, projected by a very human like voice and translated to halting Thessian caught the asari officers by surprise, so much so that it took them a moment to realize the implications of what the armour clad figure before them was saying. Galactic Federation? Was there another collection of races that the council was unaware of? The fact that the subject didn't know where it was seemed to emphasize that point, if it was telling the truth of course. Then the last part registered. The asari captain in charge had to admire the subjects tenacity. There were no less than 12 officers in front of her, and more were on rooftops above, yet she didn't hesitate in refusing the captains orders. Of course this made the captains job much harder.

"You know that if you don't comply, we will be forced to take possibly lethal measures to incapacitate you?" the captain warned.

"I'd rather not be forced into injuring an upholder of the law," Samus said calmly. "But I will not relinquish my armour and weapons."

"There are 12 officers here. More on the rooftops! How do you expect to..." the asari captain stopped speaking, her eyes drawn to what appeared to be a glowing ball of energy charging on the tip of what seemed to be... an arm cannon? Was that even possible? Suddenly, a flare of energy lit the plaza, and a large projectile streaked up towards the wall of a nearby building. It impacted the structure in a devastating explosion, the kinetic force of the impact showering debris on the asari police team below. The stunned officers watched, firing their weapons randomly, as a band of energy shot out from an attachment on the bounty hunters left arm and latched onto the ledge of a low to the ground rooftop. The bounty hunter was shooting strange balls of yellow energy out of its arm cannon as it swung itself up onto the roof of the building above.

The captain could easily tell that this creature possessed technology far beyond that of any of the citadel races, but strangely, none of her troops had been hit yet. At first she attributed this to a lack of aiming on her foes part, but then she realized, the bounty hunter was deliberately trying _not_ tohit them. It didn't want her team dead. That was enough of an excuse for her, and the asari captain quickly ordered her troops to stand down. The military could deal with the hunter, if it even needed to be dealt with. Cops weren't meant to deal with alien supersoldiers.

/\\/\

\/\\/

No longer under fire from the asari police team, Samus took the time to open up her map, which she had downloaded from one of the officers 'omni-tools' as she had learned they were called. It didn't take long to find a nearby spaceport. Though she did not like it, it appeared as though she would need to hijack a vessel. Her gunship was gone, she had no idea what type of currency they used here, and staying on this planet after the commotion she had just caused was likely a bad idea. She was about to make her way to the port when another idea hit her. This looked to be a major planet, and major planets always had criminal organizations. If she was going to steal a ship...

/\\/\

\/\\/

"Uh... Commander! We got a problem!"

"What is it Joker?" Shepard was currently taking the elevator up from engineering, and as such, couldn't see what was going on above.

"We've got a bunch of unknown ships up here," The pilot warned him nervously. "and they're uh... really strange. You better get up here immediately."

"I'm on my way up Joker," the spectre informed him. "Just keep the Normandy out of site until we figure out what's going on."

"Yeah, uh... right. I'll try and do that."

It took a full 15 seconds for the elevator to finish its ascent to the CIC, something Shepard definitely needed to fix, after which Shepard quickly dashed to the helm.

"What's the situation?" he asked hurriedly.

"The scanners picked up these four ships here, and I don't think they belong to any races we know of," the pilot answered, still apprehensive.

"How can you-" Joker cut him off, already anticipating the question.

"First off, they match no known design patterns. In fact, I've never seen anything remotely close to them. Secondly, whatever weapons we can detect, the databases have no knowledge of. Lastly, and this is definitely the most interesting, there isn't a single trace of element zero on any of those ships."

_No element zero? _Shepard thought incredulously. "That's-"

"Impossible?" Joker finished. "Apparently not. Whoever these guys are, they figured how to go FTL without it. But you didn't let me finish. The way those ships are moving... they're clearing the area. I think there might be more ships incom-" Suddenly Joker went silent, staring out into space with an expression of awe.

Following the pilots gaze, Shepard looked out the forward window, just in time to see a sight that both shocked and terrified him. All throughout space, purple rifts were opening, and out of them poured hundreds of ships, some the size of the Alliances largest dreadnoughts. The process continued for about 30 seconds, emptying one of the biggest space armada's Shepard had ever seen into the once quiet section of space. Then just when it seemed to be over, three more shapes emerged. These new ships were massive, each one appearing almost two kilometers in length.

"Commander?" Joker quietly stated. "I don't think this is a 'new' race."

/\\/\

\/\\/

Samus stood outside an Eclipse space yard, in which there were several combat shuttles, two frigates, and a single cruiser docked. Her target was a brand new, top of the line, attack shuttle. Though it was worse than obsolete by federation standards, it was supposedly the best of it's kind on this planet. It would do until she found the resources to build her own.

She moved silently, the shining light suit given to her by the luminoth doing a surprisingly good job blending in with the similarly coloured buildings of the asari planet. As she approached the entry to the space dock, she noticed the two guards stationed outside, neither very alert. Raising her arm cannon, Samus fired a trio of power beam shots at each guard. Her aim was true, and both guards were struck dead, their bodies slumping to the floor.

With both guards permanently incapacitated, Samus sprinted forward. Crossing the remaining distance between her and the space yard at an incredible pace, she quickly reached the compounds entrance, and was shocked by the lack of security present. Security for the "high security Eclipse shipyard" consisted of a gate with a slot for some sort of keycard. It was laughable.

Using her grapple beam, Samus ripped the gate right off its hinges. Unfortunately, this had the nasty side effect of alerting the entire yard to her presence... Not that it would pose much of a problem. If the weapons used by police officers was any indication, than her amour was all but impervious to any armaments the mercenaries may have procured. Striding forward with purpose, Samus entered the Eclipse complex, her map easily guiding her to her destination.

It took Samus a few minutes to navigate the twisting hallways of the Eclipse buildings and reach the dockyards. So far she was surprised by the lack of resistance. She had encountered nothing but a few crude mechs, and those had been easily disposed of. The mercenaries were obviously sending all available reinforcements to the spaceport, where the troops would all have room to fire at once.

Turning another corner, Samus found herself behind a massive door, probably locked down in an attempt to stop her from progressing any further. A pointless pursuit at best. Switching to her scan visor, she easily broke through the devices pathetic firewalls and the door slid right open, revealing a rather amusing sight.

Seventy Eclipse mercenaries, all stumbling backwards at the site of the armoured bounty hunter in front of them. Their ranks were composed of several different species, and their weapons ranged from pistols to heavy rocket launchers.

With a start, Samus realized that some of these mercs were human, and that they used the same ballistic weapons as the others. The meaning of this was not lost on her. It seemed as though she had just discovered a completely different race of humans in the universe, and that wasn't exactly a common scenario. She did not allow this to distract her though. Within a few seconds of intense tactical planning, the fates of 70 different mercenaries would be set in stone. Unfortunately for the mercs, Samus' definition of set in stone was a synonym for an untimely demise.

Oblivious to the danger before her and her small war band, an asari stepped forward, probably the leader. "I am Captain Waseia," she announced boldly. "I don't know what the hell you are, but you've destroyed Eclipse property. We do not take kindly to that offence. You will lay down your armour and weapons and, if you're lucky, you will only be sold to indentured servitude." The asari stood smugly, obviously confident that anyone would back down against such overwhelming odds.

Samus just smiled inside her helmet. "I'm afraid I can't do that Waseia," the bounty hunter calmly stated. "Now if you would be so kind as to surrender that shuttle over there," she pointed at her target, "we might be able to avoid..." Samus paused, holding out a hand and mockingly doing some calculations on her fingers. "About seventy unnecessary deaths."

/\\/\

\/\\/

It actually took effort for Waseia to keep her mouth from hanging open. She had whatever this thing was surrounded and it not only refused to surrender, but made demands of Eclipse? It was calmer than Waseia herself and the asari was the one with 70 troops behind her. Could it be some sort of advanced geth model? She had heard the rumors of geth infiltrators, but she had never actually believed them. But what else could this be, other than some advanced type of artificial intelligence? It didn't matter. It would die, or shut down, or do whatever AI's did after being filled with accelerator rounds.

The rest of her troops seemed to think the same thing, as they opened fire immediately. The air was filled with gun shots, so many that Waseia had trouble seeing the target. A few seconds later, thermal clips ran dry and the fire stopped. The sight in front of her was terrifying. The thing stood, not so much as a scratch evident on its luminous silver armour. What was even more terrifying was the globe of dark purple energy building on the end of the thing's right arm, which was shaped into a cannon-like appendage. As she watched, tendrils of the dark material materialized along the sides of the weapon.

Waseia had no idea what kind of weapon this was. The only thing certain was that it was years beyond anything her mercs had. Than an engineer shouted something.

"That thing is creating dark energy!" the engineer cried in a voice laced with terror. "And more than I've ever seen in one place!"

If Waseia's blue skin had the capability of turning white, that statement would've caused it to do so. A weapon that created large quantities of dark matter was far beyond anything any citadel race had ever developed. She was about to give the order to fire again when a globe of purple energy shot forth. It shot towards a cluster of heavy troops, and before they could react, created a swirling vortex of dark energy in their midst. It resembled the biotic singularity Waseia herself could summon, except, when this faded, everything that had been in the area was just... gone. As if it had been erased from the universe.

All semblance of order disappeared in an instant. Mass accelerator weapons spewed bullets, their rounds having little to no effect on the construct in front of them. Out of the corner of her eye, Waseia saw another group of her mercs frozen by the same dark weapon, and then shattered by some sort of concussive blast. In front of her, an engineer was incinerated by a penetrating blast of some sort of fiery substance, his heavy shields not even slowing the burst. Anger filled her veins. She cared not for the troops, but training cost money. Lots of it. Gathering her energy, Waseia began glowing blue, biotic energy flowing within her. She let it build, reveling in the feeling of power it provided. Then, when she reached her peak, Waseia unleashed it all, the biotic energy taking the form of a powerful shockwave. Blue bursts of energy ripped through the ground, heading straight towards the armoured hunter.

The biotic attack hit the thing dead on, and Waseia smiled grimly. Nothing short of a heavy mech could withstand that force. But the smile quickly faded.

To her horror, the attack did absolutely nothing, passing right through the unstoppable fiend. Her biotics ineffective, Waseia frantically looked around for something, anything, that could be used to put a stop to the hunters advance. Beside her, she noticed the engineer that had detected the dark energy was working furiously on his omni-tool. "What the hell are you waiting for?" Waseia demanded. "Hack that thing!"

"I can't!" the engineer shot back. "I've tried, but it's not a mech! It's some sort of advanced armour suit, imbued with properties I can't even comprehend. It's almost entirely resistant to dark energy, and has some sort of morphing capabilities. The weapons it uses do things modern science states are impossible. It's harnessing and directing dark energy, as well as light energy and even sonic energy!"

"Are you saying that there's a person inside there?" Waseia spluttered in disbelief.

"Assuredly," the engineer nervously answered.

And with that one word, Waseia's entire world came crashing down. Eclipse prided itself on being the most advanced merc group in the galaxy, relying on technology to achieve what manpower couldn't. But armour like that... Eclipse didn't have a chance in hell of replicating that level of tech.

Waseia looked to the human engineer beside her. He worked quick, and kept his head cool as others were slaughtered around her, something that was very rare among merc groups. He could help her get started.

"C'mon," she said to the engineer. "We're leaving. That thing is unstoppable, and I'm not about to die to prove it's point. We'll go into the private merc business, recruit a few other people as well." She glanced at the carnage around her. "Competent people."

The engineer looked back at the armoured figure, which was making short work of whatever Eclipse were still alive. It only took one glance. He shrugged, before sprinting away beside the asari captain. Being a private merc paid better anyways.

/\\/\

\/\\/

Councilor Tevos stood with her three counterparts, the turian councilor Velarn, the salarian councilor Remos, and the newly appointed human councilor, Anderson.

All three were agitated, much like she was. Strange reports had flown in from all sides of the galaxy. Dozens of distress signals had been sent out from various ships, all announcing the presence of ships with new and devastating weaponry. At first she had suspected geth, but one damaged freighter had escape with stories of a strange new alien species that killed people with air and commanded the power of light. Though she did not believe the tales of magic weapons, the idea of a new and advanced alien species was entirely possible, especially after the incident with Sovereign. Much of the galaxy was still unknown, blocked off by the citadel laws preventing exploration.

It was only then that Tevos realized how dangerous those laws really were. There could be any number of advanced species hiding in unexplored space, just waiting for a chance to strike. And if they were to strike now... she shuddered. Suddenly, Anderson spoke up.

"I assume you've all been getting the same strange reports I have?" the human asked.

Councilor Velarn growled. "Yes. An entire fleet of ours just disappeared, not a single distress beacon. Several colonies have gone silent, and quite a few people have been reported vanishing from their homes."

"We have received similar reports," Anderson informed him.

"As have we," Tevos concurred. "And I imagine that all the citadel races have suffered similar losses."

"Could it be the reapers?" Remos asked quietly.

"No," Anderson quickly answered. "If they could enter the galaxy this fast, and with out us detecting them then they would not have needed Sovereign to activate the Citadel."

"Are we still talking about the reapers?" Velarn asked, exasperatedly. "You can't still believe that a fleet of sentient machines is just lurking in dark space with the sole intent of exterminating all life in the galaxy. They don't exist! We don't have proof that they _ever _existed!"

"We don't have proof that denies theeir existence either," Tevos reprimanded. "Besides, the existence of the reapers is not the subject of this discussion. The subject, is the sudden disappearance of over 20 worlds, both major and minor, from the territories of every race in known citadel space."

"We don't know if they've disappeared," Anderson corrected. "It's actually quite common for solar flares to temporarily disrupt communications."

"That is true," Remos agreed. "But so many at once cannot be coincidence. Besides, I am currently more interested in reports of weaponry that are far superior to our own. The STG recently received reports from Illium of a heavily armoured individual in possession of what appeared to be handheld directed energy weapons."

"And how many witnesses to this do we have?" Velarn asked doubtfully.

"Over eighty," Remos answered, undeterred by the sarcastic tone of his counterparts voice. "Each report was almost exactly the same. "The individual appeared in a market area from what appeared to be thin air, told law enforcements that it was a bounty hunter for a 'galactic federation', then proceeded to keep the officers pinned down with some type of beam weapon while it made its escape."

"Galactic federation?" Tevos asked nervously. "Is it possible that there is another federation of species in space that we have not encountered?"

"Much of the galaxy has yet to be explored," Remos explained. "It is quite possible that other species developed in these unexplor-" A loud beep from Andersons omni-tool interrupted the salarian councilor. All eyes were drawn to the human councilor, who now wore a look of shock on his face. After a few seconds, he looked up to them and spoke.

"The alliance just received a transmission from the Normandy. An entire armada of unknown vessels jumped into space all around it. They couldn't count exact numbers, but they estimate the fleets numbers at..." Anderson paused, as he started at the message incredulously. "At almost 500 ships, some as large as the Destiny Ascension. It also says that their scanners detected... no traces of element zero?"

"No element zero?" Tevos gasped. "How is that possible?" All ships needed element zero. It powered their weapons, their shields, their FTL drives... it powered just about everything. Those ships surely could not operate without it...

"I don't see why we should worry about this," Velarn protested. "No element zero? How much of a threat are ships with no barriers, inefficient weapons, and the inability to even reach FTL? The Normandy alone could destroy them."

Anderson wasn't so easily convinced. "I don't know about weapons and barriers, but according to Shepard, as well as several other members of the command team, FTL capabilities were made very apparent. If they found different means to go FTL, I imagine that they would have developed their own forms of weaponry and shielding as well."

"No doubt inferior to our own," Velarn quickly interrupted. "Even if they have them, they still don't use element zero. Any of our fleets could make short work of these newcomers."

"I would not be so quick to judge..." Anderson said cautiously. "With a species that doesn't use element zero... the size of the ships alone is formidable, and we have no idea what to expect from them. They are a complete unknown."

"They could be responsible for our disappearing colonies," Remos suggested.

"Doubtful," Anderson replied. Receiving what he inferred to be a quizzical look, he explained. "These colonies vanished from all over the galaxy, no rhyme nor reason to the disappearances. No unknown fleets have been reported either. We don't even have confirmation that the colonies are missing! This does bring up the question though, of whether or not we want to initiate first contact, or let them contact us."

"With a species so unknown, I believe it would be wise to contact them as soon as possible," Remos stated.

"Very true," Tevos agreed. "We must learn about this non-element zero based technology as soon as possible. In addition, it would be wise to discern their intentions before they arrive and discover our own worlds. Even if they're ships are weaker than our own," she glanced pointedly at Velarn. "A fleet of that size could wreck untold amounts of havok."

"I suppose it is for the best," Velarn finished. "We can have a first-contact team in the area within a week an-"

Interrupting him, Tevos made a suggestion that shocked all in the room. "I suggest that we allow the Normandy to take this action."

Velarn objected vociferously. "But it's an Alliance vessel, and-"

"And it has members of many major races of citadel on board," Tevos explained, cutting him off once more.

"Besides, we don't know how long this fleet will stay in the area," Anderson added. "But I can assure you that it won't sit there for a week."

"And Shepard did save the citadel," Remos reminded them. "He deserves the honor."

"And it may be a good idea," Tevos added, "to have a soldier communicate with what is obvious a militaristic race. He will be talking to the head of the fleet most likely, and not a diplomat."

There was a brief period of silence before Velarn threw up his arms in surrender, and said, "Fine. It's obvious I've been outvoted. But if this causes war..." he left the statement hanging as he glared at his fellow councilors.

/\\/\

\/\\/

They had miscalculated... badly. Half the reaper fleet was now gone, sucked into another universe, and the reality merging device had overloaded from strain. It would take many millennia to repair. The reapers did not have that time. Not any more.

During the split second that the two realities had merged, the reapers had detected ships. Ships that were far superior to those made by the races of this galaxy. Ships that were a threat. If the citadel races could adopt this technology... Victory was no longer certain. For the first time in its existence, the remnants of the reaper fleet felt fear.

They would have to capture these vessels, adapt to their technology and better themselves. Once they did... the universe would shake like never before.

But even as the reapers plotted, another force was at play, one as ancient as the reapers themselves. A foe met by few and thought to have been vanquished. After countless millennia in exile, they had returned to claim their rightful territory once more.

Far away, a strange anomaly shot towards the surface of the planet Ilos. In this galaxy, they could spread. Spread and conquer. The laws once set down by the ancient beings of light would bind them no more.

The universe would indeed shake, but in the end... In the end, even the reapers would perish.

They, after billions of years, would reign supreme once more.

* * *

><p><em>Well... what'd you guys think? Be sure to tell me what you liked, what you didn't like, and leave any other comments you might have. They always help.<em>

_Thank you for reading. Next update should be in 7 - 10 days._

_Thank you to LawrenceSnake, for taking the time to beta-read this chapter. I know I've said it a lot recently, but you're awesome. If you guys like this story, you should go check out his. It's very good._


	3. Chapter 2: Never A Dull Moment

_Damn, looks like I'm a day behind. Sorry guys, a bunch of school projects came up, and that combined with me accidentally overdosing on medicine put me behind a few days. _

_A word of advice: When you're mom says "take this, this, or this," don't misunderstand her and hear" take this, this, and this." Taking three extra strength medications knocked me out for a whole day, and was not a fun experience. _

_Anyway, here's the next chapter, in which some seriously **cool **stuff happens. I'd like to give LawrenceSnake yet another shoutout, for being a totally awesome beta-reader and making this story suck less. Also, I'd like to give a shoutout to "Starcraft is awesome." After an absolutely scintillating conversation, I discovered that he's having some trouble with his life and could really use some help. I'm sure that a message of encouragement would be **greatly **appreciated by him._

_Anyway, I'll shut up and let you guys read now._

* * *

><p>"Commander, we've got an incoming transmission from the council." The sound of his pilot's voice caused Shepard to tear his attention away from the massive fleet, looming in front of him. Towards the holo pad he installed in the bridge a few weeks earlier.<p>

"Patch them through," the commander ordered. "They must have received our report."

"Patching them through," Joker acknowledged. "But 50 creds says the turian's gonna dismiss your claims."

While he didn't respond to the pilot's wager, Shepard cracked a smile at the smart aleck comment. The turian councilor was an ass, and didn't make much of an attempt at hiding it. As the holograms of the four councilors materialized, Shepard mentally assembled a list of info they had on the ships so far, in preparation for any questions the politicians would put forward. It wasn't long before the orange holograms blinked into life.

The salarian councilor, Remos, was the first to speak. "Shepard, the information you have discovered on this new fleet is most interesting. Technology of this kind has never before been imagined by our scientists."

"Because we don't need it!" the turian councilor interrupted. "Our element zero technology is no doubt far superior to whatever these new aliens use!"

"Be that as it may," Remos continued, sounding more than a little annoyed at his counterpart, "this technology could still be very dangerous. We do not know what to expect from it."

Guessing at the councilors intentions, Shepard asked, "Do you want us to get in close with a silent-run and try to gather better readings?"

"No commander, we do not," Tevos quickly corrected. "That would only serve to display hostile intentions. We need peaceful interaction, not hostility. We want you, commander, to initiate first contact."

A stunned silence settled on the bridge as Shepard attempted to comprehend what the councilors had just told him. They wanted him to initiate first contact, one of the most important procedures in the galaxy. A role usually reserved for asari matriarchs and other high-ranking officials. A procedure so delicate, that something as trivial as a glance in the wrong direction could result in a war. Aware of the councilors expectant gazes, the spectre quickly recovered his voice. "I- it's an honour councilors. I'll see to it that these newcomers are welcomed in full."

"You've earned it Shepard," Anderson, the human councilor and Shepard's personal friend congratulated.

"We also believed that for what is obviously a militaristic civilization, it would be best to have a decorated war hero of our own make contact," Tevos explained.

"The galaxy is depending on you Shepard," the turian councilor added, his tone unsurprisingly hostile. "Do not let us down."

"I will do my best, councilors."

"It is all that we can ask," Tevos finished. "Make haste John Shepard. You have our blessings."

The holograms blinked off.

…

For what seemed like an eternity, the bridge was silent. Finally, Joker broke the silence.

"I take back every bad thing I've said about them," the pilot announced.

"Even the turian?" Shepard asked in surprise.

"Well maybe not him," Joker conceded. "But still... They want us to make what could be the most important contact scenario in like... forever. That's pretty damn cool."

"It's... shocking," Shepard admitted. "But it makes sense. That fleet would be long gone by the time contact vessels were to arrive, but we're already here. And if things go wrong, the Normandy's got a better chance at making it out alive than any other ship."

"True..." the Normandy's helmsman agreed. "So do we go now, or what?"

"Well there's no point in delaying it," Shepard said. "So we better let them know we're here. Deactivate stealth systems, head towards the fleet, and broadcast a message announcing our intentions. We do not want them thinking we're hostile."

"Really? I thought we could just shoot some torpedoes at them instead..." Joker sarcastically remarked.

Shepard just sighed. He'd gotten used to the pilots unwavering sarcasm months ago. "Why is it I don't have a new pilot yet?" He asked the helmsman pointedly.

"Probably because no one else is crazy enough to pick you up from an exploding volcano," the pilot shot back, forcing Shepard to shake his head in defeat. "Oh, and you might wanna let the crew know that we're contacting a new species too," he added. "I think they _might _be interested in that piece of information."

"Open up the shipwide comms," Shepard said with a smirk. Even if he was annoying, the pilot always managed to brighten his day. "I'll have to make this one quick."

/\\/\

\/\\/

On the command bridge of the _G.F.S. Olympus,_ all eyes were on the single small blip displayed on their sensor screens. It was trying to mask its signature, and doing a rather decent job of it too, but it was no match for the advanced sensor suite onboard the Olympus Class Battlecarrier.

"Ensign, any new activity to report?"

"No sir," the ensign manning the suite replied. "The ship is just sitting there, watching."

Fleet Admiral Castor Dane stifled a sigh as he examined the display in front of him. A space pirate fleet was expected to reach this area in just over thirty minutes, and now an unknown alien vessel had decided that this would be the perfect time to discover the rest of the galaxy. If it didn't move soon, he would have to send a stealth frigate to safely escort it to the Olympus... in what was soon to become a full-blown battlefield.

"If that ship doesn't move in five minutes we're initiating the first contact protocol," the admiral announced. "We cannot let the space pirates have that vessel. Dispatch the _Thomas Knowlton _to that ship, order it to protect her at all costs."

"Of course sir," the ensign acknowledged, transmitting the requested order to the lurking stealth frigate. After a brief moment of silence, she reported, "_Thomas Knowlton _confirms orders. Their

symbiote cloaking device is ready for use."

"Good. Keep your attention focused on that ship. If anything about it changes, anything at all, let me know immediately."

"Yes sir!" the ensign confirmed, focusing all her attention on the single blip denoting the unknown vessel. It was a little over thirty seconds before she spoke again.

"Sir, the ships signature has just become much more obvious. It looks like it turned off its masking device. I'm also receiving a transmission... it looks like it's being broadcast to all ships in the area. I..." suddenly, the ensign hesitated, a surprised expression spreading over her face. "Sir, this is really interesting."

"What is it?" Dane asked.

"The message is being broadcast in 27 different languages. 26 are unknown to our translating devices, but one of them... it's being broadcast in English."

Dane's eyes widened. "You're saying that were making first contact with our own race?" he asked in shock.

"I think it's actually a group of races sir," the ensign corrected. "Many of the languages include sounds no human would ever be able to produce."

"An entire collection of races..." Dane wondered. "How have we managed to not notice multiple races in our own galaxy?"

"I don't know sir."

"Respond to their transmission. Tell them that we will have a ship escort them here."

"Yes sir!"

"And inform _Thomas Knowlton _that they will be escorting our friends to the Olympus hanger bay, but they are _not _to conceal them unless the space pirates arrive right on our door step."

"_Thomas Knowlton _has been notified sir. Is there anything else?"

"Contact Aurora 242, and have her send a marine detachment to hanger 2-7B. When our guests arrive, I want them escorted to the briefing room immediately."

There was a brief pause before the ensign reported, "242 has sent the nearest available marine detachment to hanger 2-7B."

"Thank you ensign. Resume scanning for space pirate activity."

"Of course, sir."

/\\/\

\/\\/

_This is human colony Freedom's Progress! Batarian slaver ships have been spotted entering the atmosphere! We don't have any defenses here, and w- _a loud explosion silenced the message, presumably a shot fired from orbit. It did not matter. The message had gotten out, and unfortunately for the slavers, it had found a recipient. And this recipient did _not _like slavers.

The moment his phrygisian class gunship was a suitable distance from the small colony, Rundas ejected himself from the cockpit, a steep bridge of ice materializing beneath his feet and carrying him down to the small settlement. He did not know what a _batarian _was, but the meaning behind slaver was clear. Beings who treated other sentients like an everyday commodity did not deserve to live; and the phrygisian bounty hunter would see to it that these ones suffered their deserved fate.

Carried forth by his cryokinetically generated ice bridge, Rundas quickly reached the outskirts of the settlement. The planet was cold, well below freezing temperatures, a welcome change to the approaching bounty hunter. The frigid environment would only make his job easier. He passed over the outskirts of the colony, fire and smoke streaming upwards from a number of prefabricated buildings, evidence of the raid that had already taken place. He detected no survivors.

Not deterred by the initial readings, he sailed deeper into the colony, heading for the center of the settlement. It was there that he found his target. A large number of humans were crammed into what appeared to be some sort of cargo area and surrounded by a large number of armed soldiers, all a member of another race he could not recognize. It did not matter. They would breathe their last breath like any other immoral criminal.

As he watched, several members of the unknown race stepped forwards, snatching a young girl from the group, and tearing her from the grasp of her pleading mother. Laughing, one of the slavers began to reach downwards, and Rundas had no illusions about what the man intended to do. He would not stand for it. Turning downwards, he sped towards the crowded area.

He heard several shouts of alarm from several of the more observant prisoners below, but paid them no heed. His mind was focused on one target, and that target would die. With barely a thought, a blast of freezing energy was launched forth, the projectile streaking towards the oblivious slaver.

/\\/\

\/\\/

The batarian slavers stood in a circle around their newly acquired merchandise, laughing as they watched their leader retrieve a small girl, no older than eight or nine years, from the group of terrified humans. That was their leader. Always so... generous to his subordinates. They watched as he reached downwards, his hands grasping at the sides of her pants as he prepared to yank downwards. He would get the first go naturally, but they would all get a turn. They cheered as he pulled downwards. They cheered as he announced his intentions. And they cheered a he... froze?

They stared in confusion as they gazed upon their leaders body. He was literally frozen, his entire body encased in a shell of shimmering ice. Confusion turned to panic as shouts began to echo from within their ranks. Looking upwards, they saw a strange creature, a being of blue and silver, bearing down upon them. They stood in shock as several strange objects materialized around it and shot towards their ranks. Shock turned to realization as one of the balls struck a slaver, solidifying the blood in his veins instantly. Realization turned to terror as a hailstorm of shots bolted towards them. There was little to no cover. Resistance had not been expected. There was nothing they could do.

They shot frantically into the air, assault rifles discharging hundreds of mass accelerator rounds at a frantic pace. The weapons did nothing. The strange creatures armour easily deflected the projectiles. An engineer tried to incinerate its hard suit, only to find that what was thought to be armour was polished hoarfrost; that snuffed out the phosphorus projectile in a wisp of steam. He barely had time to shout his discovery before a large chunk of ice smashed into his chest, instantly killing the engineer and bowling over two more slavers that had been standing right behind him. By the time the figure reached the ground, only one slaver remained. Terrified out of his mind, the slaver looked around frantically. Then he saw something. The little girl the boss had picked out just moments ago. As the demon encased in ice set himself down on the ground, the batarian slaver grabbed the girl by the neck and put a gun to her head.

/\\/\

\/\\/

Delash Korst had never wanted to be a slaver. At 17 years and 6 months of age, he was just approaching adulthood. For all his life he had listened as the batarian hegemony inflamed his people against humanity. He had never once believed it. From what he could understand, everything his people blamed on the humans had been their own fault. Their separation from the council, their low status in the galaxy, none of it could be blamed on those who supposedly wronged them. He had always wanted to do something to help his people topple the government that put them in this position, join one of the many resistance movements or something like that. But when the boss came to his family's small dwelling, recruiting men for a raid on a small human colony, his father had been only too happy to volunteer him for the mission.

When their ships had touched ground on the frigid colony, he had done nothing but spectate. He had watched as his own people mercilessly beat and killed those that had done them no wrong. He did not cheer when his leader tore the young girl from the grasp of her crying mother. He did not fire when the blue demon of frost unleashed his wrath upon them. Yet now, out of fear and desperation, he was holding a pistol to a young girls head. He tried to throw the gun away, but his grip only tightened. He saw the blue being step forward, ready to unleash judgment upon him as well, and tried to throw the gun away once more. His grip tightened.

His mind was a turmoil of mixed emotions. He wanted desperately to just throw his weapon away and let the girl run into the waiting arms of her mother, who he could hear screaming in the background. Yet he couldn't. The basic, primal portion of his brain told him that this young girl was the only thing standing between him and death. His mind was a warzone. The rational portion locked in a bitter stalemate with the side that screamed for survival, and his body was the host. Then he heard the voice. Quivering with fear and distorted by tears, it rang through his mind, perfectly clear. _"A-are you going to h-h-urt me?"_

/\\/\

\/\\/

"Commander, we've got an incoming transmission from one of those ships," Joker announced.

_Did they understand the message? _Shepard wondered. _Or is this just a way to acknowledge that they received it? _"Open a channel," the spectre ordered.

"Roger that commander. Opening a channel now." There was a faint hiss of static as the two channels synced with each other, followed by a voice. _"This is the G.F.S. Thomas Knowlton broadcasting to unknown vessel Normandy SR-1. By orders of Fleet Admiral Dane, you are requested to dock with the G.F.S. Olympus. We will escort you to hangar bay 2-7B. Please follow us immediately. _

Shepard wore a look of shock. The message had been spoken in perfect english. And the only species in the galaxy that spoke english was-

"Humans!" Joker exclaimed, finishing his thought for him. "Did we seriously just meet other humans?"

"_Yes," _the voice on the comm snapped back. _"Now follow us. We don't have much time."_

"Err... Yeah," Joker cautiously replied. "We'll do that." Still recovering from the surprise of their new discovery, neither the pilot nor the spectre noticed as the _Thomas Knowlton_ materialized in front of them. When they moved to follow, they just assumed the ship had drifted ahead of them.

As the Federation stealth cruiser guided them to their destination, Shepard took the time to examine some of the ships they passed by. The largest appeared to be around 1.2 kilometers, their entire hull covered by various types of weapons, all unknown to the Normandy's scanners, while the smallest were around the same size as the Normandy herself. And just as the long-range scanners had reported, there wasn't a trace of element zero to be found.

Following behind the Federation ship, the Normandy quickly reached the Olympus, which turned out to be one of the three massive dreadnoughts that dominated the space. On closer inspection they realized it wasn't actually a dreadnought, but appeared to be some sort of hybrid between a cruiser and a carrier. Their escort guided them to one of the ships massive hanger bays, which, to the amazement of the Normandy's crew, easily accommodated the Alliance frigate.

Shepard could hear the whispers from various crewmembers, wondering about the size, weapons, and defenses of the ships surrounding them. The spectre didn't blame them. This was the biggest discovery ever made by humanity, rivaled only by the prothean ruins of Mars... and even that was arguable. If the Alliance and other Citadel races could design their ships without the need for element zero... A sudden shift by the Normandy disrupted his thoughts.

"We're docked commander," Joker informed him. "Opening airlock doors. Looks like they've sent a greeting party."

"Did you expect anything less?" Shepard asked, eyeing the display and observing the detachment of soldiers lined up at the _Normandy's_ airlock doors. They wore a strange form of combat armour; the facial area of their helmets covered almost entirely by an opaque blue visor and the armour itself a dull silver. A few were shifting nervously, but they were obviously well trained. Their weapons were just as unknown as everything else in this fleet, designed in a way that allowed the soldiers to slide their arms right into the guns. He noted that several had strange packs attached to the back of their armour, as well as a different style of armour that easily distinguished them from the rest of the marines. Until new information revealed itself, he would assume that they were the officers of the group.

"Not really... bu-" Shepard cut the pilot off.

"Then don't complain. Please inform all ground team members that they are to report to the bridge immediately."

"Err... yes sir." Joker sighed as he carried out the order. That was his commander all right, switching from friend to hardass in a little under seven seconds.

/\\/\

\/\\/

It took thirty seconds for the elevator to carry the rest of the ground team up, who quickly joined Shepard at the airlock door. He let his gaze rest on each one of them, his comrades in arms against anything the galaxy had to offer.

Urdnot Wrex, krogan warlord. At first glance, he appeared to be no more than a walking tank, yet had the intelligence to compete with the best strategists the Alliance had to offer. At almost a thousand years of age, he had experience to rival an asari matriarch, and his insight into personal matters was surprisingly helpful.

Garrus Vakarian, ex c-sec officer. Despite the general distrust between their two races, the turian had quickly become Shepard's closest friend and most trusted confidant. He was also a crack shot with a sniper rifle and a tactical genius.

Liara T'soni, asari scientist. Shy and inexperienced at first, she had quickly grown through the heat of battle, revealing herself to be a devastatingly powerful biotic. She also had the historical knowledge to understand and decipher many ancient relics, and had been the key to discovering the conduit of Ilos.

Kaidan Alenko, a fellow Alliance marine. The soldier had been on Shepard's squad for some time, long before the hunt for Saren began. He was both a skilled biotic and technician and could remain calm in even the most stressful situations, a talent that even Shepard occasionally lacked.

And lastly, Tali'Zorah nar Rayya, the quarian machinist. Shepard's team had encountered her on her pilgrimage, a rite of passage all quarians went through before being considered full-fledged adults in quarian society. She had possessed the evidence convicting the traitorous spectre Saren. Much like Liara, she had joined the ship timid and anxious, though with a considerable amount of experience beneath her belt. As it turned out, she was the most skilled hacker and engineer Shepard had ever met. Without her technical know-how, their pursuit of Saren would not have gone nearly as far.

Shepard smiled. These were not just his comrades, but also his friends. And now they would be right beside him for one of the biggest discoveries in galactic history.

/\\/\

\/\\/

Rundas watched as the gun was thrown to the side, the slaver who had held it collapsing to his knees and breaking into tears. The batarian youth was speaking frantically, but Rundas's translator could not decipher the language. Maybe one of the humans could translate for him...

It seemed that one of the not-to-be slaves had the same idea. Stepping forward, a short red-haired woman asked, "Can you understand him?"

"No," Rundas replied simply. He waited a moment, expecting a reply. When none was forthcoming, he repeated his answer. To his surprise, the woman, and the rest of the humans, just looked at him blankly. _Their translators must not be up to date,_ he realized. Glancing at the area around him non-combatively, he realized that the entire settlement appeared to be hundreds of years out of date. It didn't matter. He was in a hurry, and analyzing a settlement would be an unnecessary delay to his mission.

Scanning through the various tools and features of his own translating device he discovered an old external translating program. It wouldn't be pretty, but it would get the job done. _Just need to communicate with them and...There. _

Just as the woman was about to reiterate the question, Rundas answered. "Yes," his native tongue converted into standard english. He saw the prisoners glance up in shock at his rough use of their language. Holding back a laugh, he tapped his head and said, "translator."

The woman recovered first, and was quick to thank him for his help in saving their colony. She started to explain what had happened, but Rundas held up his hand, halting her. "I have to deal with him," the bounty hunter pointed at the still kneeling batarian, "before my job is done. But since I know nothing about his race, I'll let you deal with it."

"I... He said he didn't want to be here, and no one saw him fire his weapon..." she paused as the batarian said something. "He says he wants to help rebuild the colony, and as long as we keep an eye on him and don't give him any weapons I don't think he'd be able to cause any damage..."

"Then I'm done here." Glancing at the still frozen batarian leader, Rundas saw a strange pistol lying on the ground beside him. _That'll do, _the phrygisian thought as he scooped up his latest trophy. Just as he was about to leave, he turned around to face the colonists once more and said, "But if I ever show up here again, you all owe me one." Hopefully they didn't think it was a threat...

The colonists watched as Rundas propelled himself up an ice ramp before hopping off, his ship decloaking right in front of their suddenly wide eyes. As the bounty hunter's ship sped off, the woman he had conversed with whispered, "He came down upon them like the Archangel itself."

"Archangel..."

/\\/\

\/\\/

Shepard stepped out of the airlock, and onto the small bridge leading to the floor of the hanger bay. As he took in his surroundings he saw the marine unit in front of them stiffen, before snapping into a salute. "Commander Shepard?" one of the marines asked, stepping forward.

"Yes," the spectre easily replied.

"Lt. Kyle Jefferson. Admiral Dane wants us to escort you to the briefing room."

"Then lead on lieutenant, there is no need for the formalities though."

"You're a commander, I'm an ell-tee," the marine explained, as the marine detachment started moving. "Us marines always show respect to a non-hostile superior officer, regardless of race."

"True." They walked onwards for a few minutes, Shepard's team trying to take in every detail of the new technology, and occasionally asking a question, to which the marines would reply, 'ask Admiral Dane,' or 'Ask 242.' When asked what 242 was, they called it the ships Aurora unit, and refused to elaborate. Eventually, Shepard heard a few of the marines casually discussing the new aliens aboard their ship, prompting Shepard to wonder, _Why aren't they nervous, or at least surprised, by the non-humans? _When the spectre asked, the lieutenant just laughed.

"Commander," the marine chuckled. "We've seen species far stranger than your entourage wandering the galaxies." He paused for a second, and his voice turned dark. "Not all of them friendly either."

_They've already met other races? _Shepard asked himself, shocked. _And did he say galaxies... plural?_ The spectre was about to ask when the marines stopped.

"Take this elevator up three floors," the lieutenant ordered. "When you get off, just follow the blinking lights on the floor. We've got to get back to our station."

Stepping into the indicated elevator Shepard mentally shrugged. Much of the galaxy was unexplored, and these new humans could have easily met other races in similarly unexplored areas. For all he knew, they could have had their own version of the rachni war. And he had probably just misheard the marine when he said galaxies. They could not have developed extra-galactic travel... could they? Even the reapers didn't have that level of technology.

Shepard tapped an icon on the elevator control panel, and the elevator lurched upwards, traveling the distance in a little under seven seconds. A feat to which Garrus remarked, "Of course the _other _humans develop a decent shipboard elevator."

"Garrus..." the spectre growled.

"How come the Alliance doesn't have this tech commander?"

"This really isn't the ti-"

"Hey, maybe we can buy it from them!" his turian friend exclaimed. "I'm sure they'd gift it to us out of pity if they saw what you've got installed on the Normandy."

Throwing his hands in the air in surrender, Shepard heaved a sigh. It was all in good humour. Besides, a faster elevator would be nice... "C'mon. We really shouldn't keep a fleet admiral waiting."

As they followed the floor lights, Shepard saw Tali speed up and start walking alongside him. "Shepard," the quarian began. "I was running some scans over those marines that greeted us, and while most were normal, there were a few, the ones in the special armour, that were different. Those packs they were carrying, there's something inside them, and it's a material unlike anything I've ever seen. It's extremely radioactive, and It seems almost... alive... in a way."

"One more thing to ask the Admiral about then," Shepard acknowledged. "Did you discover anything else interesting?"

"This entire ship is interesting Shepard," the engineer said sarcastically. "Even the metals that create its armour are different from anything in our records. Everything about this fleet... it screams of a technology level far superior to our own."

_Far superior to our own..._ That was something to think about. Could the marine's statement about galaxies be true? It struck Shepard that it was entirely possible these humans were from completely different galaxy. _The council will love this... _

Shepard and his team soon reached what he assumed was the briefing room. When he approached the door, it slid open, revealing a single man standing on a platform overlooking a massive holo-projector. The man wore rather... interesting attire. Instead of the fancy suits most admirals favoured, Dane wore a reinforced set of armour, light by marine standards, but imposing nonetheless. A large, crown like hat rested atop his head, giving the man an appearance similar to that of an ancient monarch. Shepard heard Wrex give a grunt of approval, and wasn't surprised. He was similarly impressed. Seeing a naval officer geared up for combat was a welcome change of pace to the battle-hardened spectre.

Stepping into the room, Shepard snapped into a salute, a display mirrored by all in his squad. Even Wrex made a half-hearted attempt at the gesture. They held it for a moment before the admiral said, "at ease, soldiers. We're hear as friends for the moment, not military officials."

Shepard eased up a little, and lowered his salute. "Admiral Dane, I presume?" the spectre asked.

"Correct," the admiral confirmed. "I take it you are Commander Shepard?"

"Yes."

"I would have the rest of your crew introduce themselves, but I doubt our translators will understand their languages. So instead we're going to get straight to the point. You, commander, picked a terrible time to show up. We've got a space pirate fleet, larger than any we've ever seen, expected to arrive in-system in less than fifteen minutes."

Maybe it was the mission to take down Saren, or maybe it was the fact that he was standing in the flagship of an armada 500 strong, but for whatever reason, this news really didn't surprise him. So instead of panicking, like so many others would in his situation, the spectre took charge. "The Normandy and her crew stand ready to assist Admiral," Shepard boldly announced. "From what we've seen, I doubt our ship can hold up in a fight, but the six of us," he gestured at his comrades behind him, "have plenty of combat experience. We can help you hold off any boarding parties that try and take over."

The admiral grinned. "I'm not one to turn down the assistance, especially from what's obviously a special operations group. Now we've got about ten minutes until the pirates are expected to arrive, so you should probably meet the Olympus' most important crew member." Seemingly on cue, the holographic projector behind the Admiral flared to life, revealing a very lifelike projection of... a giant brain? Dane must have noticed the shocked look on his face, as he quickly explained. "This is Aurora 242, the Olympus' shipboard aurora unit."

Shepard saw Tali stiffen at the sight of the hologram, and he understood her apprehension. What else could this be... but an AI? The hologram was far too... real... to be that of a virtual intelligence. Then again, these humans were highly advanced. It could be something entirely different.

Suddenly, the aurora unit spoke, a feminine, almost mystical voice echoing through the room's speakers. "We are Aurora 242, shipboard Aurora unit for the G.F.S. Olympus. It is our pleasure to meet you."

It was at that moment that Tali finally decided to voice her opinion. "Is that an... AI?" the quarian exclaimed.

Dane turned to the engineer, and though he didn't seem bothered by the outburst, there was a very confused look plastered on his features.

_Right, his translator wouldn't understand khellish, _Shepard realized. He was about to translate when the aurora unit spoke.

"We are not an artificial intelligence platform," the aurora unit explained, somehow understanding the quarian, "but an organic supercomputer, constructed by the Galactic Federation to help manage affairs of all purposes."

"Organic supercomputer?" Shepard asked, baffled. How could a computer be... organic? If anyone in citadel space were to even suggest such an idea they'd be deemed a lunatic.

Admiral Dane was apparently expecting his confusion, because he did not hesitate to answer. "The first Aurora unit was born a little under twenty years ago," the admiral explained. "A product of some science project or another. Since then, we've created thousands. We use them in science, government, the military, and a whole lot of other areas as well. I'd give you a Federation history lesson, but we really don't have the time."

"I'll hold you on that offer once the battle is over," Shepard said, actually quite serious. "Until then, we're going to need some equipment. If what we've seen is any indication, our weapons probably won't do much."

"That they won't," Dane agreed. "You'll want to head down to the armoury. 242 will tap into your communications and guide you there, as well as give you the proper clearance to get what you need. When battle starts, she'll direct you to where ever you're needed. She's already downloaded your languages into her database, so there's no need to worry about communication barriers."

Shepard could tell that his team was nervous at the prospect of the aurora unit guiding them, Tali especially, but if this Federation had worked with thousands for almost twenty years, his team could work with this one for a few hours. "We'll do what we can admiral," the spectre assured him.

"You're efforts are much appreciated commander," Dane acknowledged. "Now I must get back to the bridge before the pirate fleet arrives. Good luck."

After letting the admiral pass, Shepard led his team back out of the briefing room, the Olympus' aurora unit guiding them to the ships armoury. As they hastily made their way across the battle carrier, Shepard pondered Dane's last words. _Good luck. _

In a situation like this, fighting an unknown and technologically superior foe, they were going to need much more than luck.

Much, much, more.

/\\/\

\/\\/

Somewhere deep in the Pangaea Expanse...

This world would do for now. It was isolated, and once the transfer was complete, it would be there's. The first stage of their conquest. The light would be abandoned, and they would rise superior once more. And this time, neither the ancients nor the hunter would be there to stop them.

* * *

><p><em>Things are getting pretty tense now, aren't they? Coming up next chapter: Shepard and co kill a bunch of bad guys with some fancy new equipment.<em>

_I'd like to thank everyone who's reviewed, favourited, or even just lurked on this story so far. You guys are the reason I enjoy writing so much._

_So yeah, I hope that was an **ice **chapter, and think it's pretty **chill **that you're all enjoying this story... _

_...Fine, I'll **cool **it with the puns..._

_...Sorry, had to get that last one in._

_Toxic out._


	4. Chapter 3: How Not to Board a Flagship

_Here you go guys, the longest chapter in this story so far. I apologize for the delay, as a combination of the Christmas season, my brother getting minecraft, and a brand new 3DS kept me away from the computer for a while. Updates won't be taking three weeks any longer (at least I hope not). Now, time for Chapter Three! In which the Normandy crew get cool new stuff and a bunch of gunshots and explosion happen. Enjoy!_

* * *

><p>When Shepard had stepped through the door of the ships armory as indicated by 242, he had expected something akin to the Normandy's own, maybe a little larger, with a few rows of weapons displayed along the walls. Instead, he found himself in a soldier's dreamland. The room was massive, gun racks dividing the room into a plethora of miniature hallways. They were noticeably devoid of weapons, but that was to be expected, what with the impending invasion and all. The room was, for the most part, unoccupied, the soldiers having left for their stations well before Shepard's crew arrived. The only people in the area were Shepard's team, and a single marine polishing what appeared to be a rifle.<p>

Upon their entrance, the marine glanced up from his task before snapping to attention. "Staff Sergeant Brian Bae, reporting for duty sir!" the man proudly announced.

"At ease sergeant," Shepard requested. "I'm not your superior officer."

"Sorry sir," Bae apologized. "It's a bit unusual, meeting another race of humans, and protocol demands that we show respect to a superior of _any _race, as long as they're not hostile that is."

"Don't worry about it sergeant," Shepard replied. "We have similar ideals in the Alliance."

"Thanks sir. Anyway, I assume you're here to get outfitted with some new equipment for the expected attack? No offense to your "Alliance", but your equipment is grossly out of date."

"Compared to what you seem to have? I'm inclined to agree," the spectre admitted. "So yes, we're going to need some new weapons and armour."

"Sure thing sir," Brian acknowledged. "We won't have armour for your friends though..."

While the sergeant was attempting to come up with a solution, 242 took that moment to intervene. "Staff Sergeant," the aurora unit began, it's disembodied voice echoing through the room. "Fleet Admiral Dane has authorized the use of prototype equipment for the commander and his crew. Adaptive armour has already been tested extensively, and its safety has been confirmed."

For a moment, Bae just stood there, an expression of disbelief likely hidden behind his opaque visor. When he spoke, shock was evident in his voice. "I... Of course," the marine acknowledged. "The admiral's really going all out on this one," Shepard heard him mutter softly. "Right this way Commander."

His team behind him, Shepard followed the marine to the far side of the armoury, where the marine was tapping at a few places on an inconspicuous looking wall. Shepard was about to ask exactly what the sergeant was doing when, suddenly, he yanked off his helmet and a blue laser scanned the mans face. Then after a brief moment of waiting, a synthesized voice announced, "Access to prototype Chozodian Adaptive Armour confirmed," and the wall slid open revealing another room, though minuscule in comparison to the area outside.

Bae briefly entered the room, grabbing items off the walls before reemerging with several... things... under his arms. Whatever they were, they certainly didn't look like suits of armour. From the excited look on Bae's face however, Shepard could tell that these were _very _valuable. Still, it was hard to suppress the negative emotions directed towards the unremarkable packages.

The staff sergeant apparently read his mind, because he immediately addressed the spectre's concerns. "They don't look like much, I know, but you're looking at the most expensive sets of armour in the Federation. The tech is based on Samus Aran's Varia suit, with some advanced Federation equipment mixed in."

"Samus Aran?" Shepard asked confusion about the unfamiliar name readily apparent.

"Right, you wouldn't know of her. She's one of the Bounty Hunters we regularly employ, and she's a hero to the Federation. I think she's killed the space pirate's leader about... three times now? Anyway, I'm getting off track here. If you four..." the marine gestured towards Wrex, Garrus, Tali, and Liara, "could please step forward?"

Shepard gave each a quick nod and they moved to comply.

"Thank you," Bae acknowledged. "Now what I've got here are four Chozodian Adaptive Armour sets. Because the Olympus is a human vessel, we don't carry too many sets of armour for other races, and for obvious reasons, none for races we haven't met. This prototype armour counters that little drawback. The armour material is contained within this package," the marine held out one of the oddly shaped devices for Shepard's team to see, "in a highly compressed state. All you do is attach it to an exposed area of skin, or plating, or whatever covers your body, and the suit will memorize every aspect of your biology and form around you. It's not the most powerful armour in our inventory, but we had to sacrifice power for adaption. Even if we hadn't, it couldn't compare to the armour such as Samus' Varia suit anyway. Any questions?"

Garrus and Wrex remained silent, respecting the need for haste due to the upcoming battle. Even Liara was able to contain her normally insatiable curiosity. Tali however, had to ask, "What if you can't expose your skin?"

When Shepard reiterated her question in English, he left the staff sergeant very confused. "Why can't you attach it an exposed area of skin?" the marine asked. "You're no-" he was interrupted, as 242 decided once more to intervene.

"As a member of the quarian race, Miss Zorah's immune system functions at less than optimal rates, and as a result, is forced to wear a protective environmental suit at all times," she explained. "To remove a section of her suit in a non-sterile environment would be very dangerous and possibly fatal. Use of a sterile field generator is recommended."

Taken aback by that revelation, the sergeant really didn't know what to say. "I'm sorry." It was the best he could come up with. "I'll go grab one of the generators from the medical cabinet." He handed one device each to Wrex, Garrus, and Liara. "You three can put those on now," he explained. "And don't worry about taking off your armour. The suit will merge itself with the armour you're currently wearing. Just grab the device with a bare hand, claw, or any other appendage and watch the magic happen." With that, Bae walked off, presumably to grab the generator mentioned prior.

At the same time, Garrus was reaching for one of the adaptive armour sets with an armour free hand. "So we just grab one," he began, somewhat doubtfully, as his fingers closed around the device, "and it forms all aroun- Spirits!"

At the sound of his friend's exclamation, Shepard spun around, his gaze locking onto the turian's hand. He uttered a similar gasp when he saw what had caused it. The device in his hand was steadily shrinking, while simultaneously, a strange black coating spread across his friend's body. "Garrus!" Shepard shouted.

"This... This is amazing!" Garrus exclaimed, not hearing the spectre.

"Are you okay?" Shepard demanded, his tone worried.

"What?" He noticed the concerned expression on Shepard's face. "Oh, don't worry about me, I'm fine," the turian reassured him, alleviating the spectres fears as the suit completed itself around him. "It's just -spirits- this thing just formed right on top of me! I've never seen anything like it!" Around the room, Shepard heard similar exclamations of awe from the rest of his team.

"So no negative effects?" As amazing as it was, he had to be sure there were no dangers to his squad.

"None," Garrus assured him. "In fact, I think I feel better than normal."

"That would be the result of Chozodian amplification properties," Bae explained, choosing that moment to re-enter the conversation. The marine was holding a small device, that Shepard assumed was the generator he had mentioned prior to his departure. "We couldn't make sense of Samus' morphing device, so we modified it to amplify the users natural physique instead. It's only a marginal increase, but noticeable nonetheless."

_Morphing capabilities? _Shepard thought to himself. _And the Federation, as advanced as they are, couldn't make sense of the technology? Just who is this "Samus?" _

"Is there anything this suit doesn't do?" Shepard had to ask.

"Quite a lot actually," the staff sergeant admitted, "and as I mentioned before, the armour itself is only a little stronger than your normal marine getup. Durability had to be sacrificed to obtain the adaptive processes." Finishing his explanation, Bae then asked, "Now if the quarian could please come here?"

After a momentary hesitation, Tali moved to comply.

"Good. Now before we start, 242 updated the Federation databases with information on your various races, including translators. That should make communication easier. Now what I've got in my hand is a Federation sterile field generator. Press a button, and it keeps a small area sterile as long as it has power. It should allow you to safely remove a portion of your suit while the armour activates."

"Y-"

"Before you ask," Bae continued, interrupting the engineer, "yes you can keep it. 242 also gave me authorization to hand over the schematics after the battle." Before she could respond, the marine sergeant turned towards Shepard. "Now if you and your fellow human could follow me, we'll get you suited up with some Federation special operations armour. 242 will help them get set up with weapons."

/\\/\

\/\\/

As it turns out, donning the Federation armour was a task easier said than done. The separate pieces had to be fitted together in a very precise manner, else the suits systems would be unable to properly synchronize and, as a result, cause critical systems to malfunction. Putting it together was like assembling a three dimensional puzzle, with the added catch that if you didn't build it right, you might die. According to Bae there were normally machines to assist with this process, but those would take some time to activate. For obvious reasons, that option was highly impractical. After all, an incoming enemy fleet tended to impose certain time constraints upon the defenders.

This reasoning was accentuated by the loud warning klaxon that suddenly blared throughout the ship. _Space pirate fleet as arrived in system, _a synthetic voice announced over the ships speakers. _All forces prepare for immediate engagement._

Unfortunately, while Kaidan had gotten his suit properly put together, Shepard was still struggling with the last few pieces. "Fuck," he heard the marine sergeant swear loudly. "Commander, we've got thirty seconds to get this on. You..." he pointed at Kaidan. "Get whatever weapons you and the Commander will need, grab your friends, and get the hell back over here." Acknowledging the orders with a nod, Kaidan ran off to do as the marine requested.

Turning back towards Shepard, Bae said, "Now let's get these last few pieces on." Then, under his breath, "I hate this spec-ops armour..."

Kaidan arrived, the rest of Shepard's team following just as he and Bae got the last piece of armour snapped into place. Shepard could easily tell that several members were holding back laughter at the sight of their Commander being helped into his armour, but a harsh glare silenced them for the moment... though he fully expected to see a photo the extra-net within the next week. _Too damn easy to take a photo these days... _He also saw that Kaidan was holding several strange objects, and was offering a couple to him.

Unsure of exactly what he was supposed to do with them, the Shepard gave him a confused look, to which the lieutenant replied, "Apparently, these are weapons. A shotgun and an assault rifle specifically."

"Indeed they are," Bae confirmed. "And you've already have a pistol attached to your hip. You don't, however, have time to mess around with them at the moment. Admiral Dane wants you on the command bridge immediately. Take the tram located just opposite the armoury door and 242 will give you instructions on how to operate those weapons while you wait."

Shepard gave the marine a nod of thanks, before turning around and wordlessly leaving the room.

/\\/\

\/\\/

Meanwhile, in the infinite void of space, combat had already been joined. Federation frigates darted through space, exchanging fire with their space pirate counterparts. Heavy cruisers blasted away at anything that moved, while massive dreadnoughts lumbered throughout the battlefield, their main cannons obliterating anything that was unfortunate enough to find itself within their sights. During the chaos of battle, nobody really noticed the small vessel that dropped into space nearby, an attack shuttle recently 'liberated' from the clutches of an Illium mercenary group.

The pilot of the vessel was fine with this lack of attention. After all, a hunter worked best when her prey was unaware of her presence. And to Samus Aran, the space pirates were most definitely her prey. She knew it would be impossible to reach any of the Federation battlecarriers. In the heat of a battle like this, an unknown ship like hers would be shot down the moment it tried to dock. Therefore, she needed to go on the offensive. And she knew exactly where to strike.

In the middle of the space pirate fleet lurked a massive dreadnought, larger than any other ship on the battlefield. To her trained eye, it appeared a little over three kilometers in length, its height somewhere between 400 and 500 meters. From her viewpoint, it was impossible to measure the width, but it was not necessary to confirm the importance of what was obviously the fleet's flagship. The loss of such as ship would be a crippling blow to the space pirate armada.

A grim smile forming beneath her helmet, Samus adjusted her course to take her straight towards the enemy dreadnought. Anyone else would call her tactics insane, but after everything she'd seen and done on Zebes, Tallon IV, and Aether... there wasn't much left in the universe that could frighten Samus Aran. Taking out the flagship of a fleet many hundreds strong with only an obsolete attack shuttle for support? It was all in a days work, and recently, _suicidal _seemed to be a crucial part the huntress' job description.

300 kilometers... 250 kilometers... 200 kilometers... Her vessel quickly closed the distance, the pirate flagship looming ever larger before her. 150 kilometers... Several pirate fighters noticed her approaching and moved to intercept. 100 kilometers... Several beams of energy lanced out from the enemy fighters, just missing the attack shuttle as Samus pulled the ship into a desperate roll. 50 kilometers... a beam grazed the side of the shuttle, immediately disabling the obsolete kinetic barriers. 25 kilometers... A pirate fighter swooped in from the side, streaking towards the huntress' vessel, about to deliver the killing blow. Samus prepared to swerve to the side once more only to see the enemy ship... shatter? In the space once occupied by the pirate fighter, only fragments of ice remained. Then a transmission came through her communications panel, the speaker's raspy voice instantly familiar.

"That's another one you owe me now," the phrygisian bounty hunter on the other end informed her, the familiar outline of his gunship pulling into view.

Samus just grinned, though no one would be able to see it through her helmet... or the ship for that matter. She'd ask him exactly how he knew it was her in this ship later. For now though, she had a dreadnought to take down. 10 kilometers... the capital ship was immediately in front of her, no entrance in sight. _Of course, that was the plan... _the huntress thought to herself, somewhat sadistically. 500 meters... Raising her arm cannon, she blew a hole through the top of the shuttle with a missile, allowing the vacuum to suck her armoured form out along with the rest of the ships atmosphere. She watched as the stolen shuttle continued to streak towards the pirate dreadnought. _If no entrance is readily available... _the shuttle impacted against the side of the flagship. _...Then you make your own. _The vessel exploded, a result of its suddenly destabilized element zero core, the force of the impact enough to rip a hole in the plating of the space pirate warship and begin venting atmosphere, debris, and space pirate bodies into the void.

Of course, this was nowhere near a fatal strike. A powerful energy shield was quick to deploy, almost immediately sealing off the puncture. Unfortunately, 'almost immediately' was not fast quite fast enough, as two humanoid forms shot through the impromptu entrance, light radiating from one, an aura of cold projecting from the other. The space pirates aboard the mighty dreadnought were about to have a very bad day.

/\\/\

\/\\/

When the shuttle tore into the Pirate flagship, Samus had immediately activated her gravity boost, believing that it would be much faster in the vacuum of space than the water for which it was originally designed. Her hypothesis had been quickly proven correct, and the luminoth device shot her towards the ragged opening, quickly covering the hundreds of meters between her and her destination. Yet it wasn't fast enough. She saw the edges of the opening begin to glow, and knew that the shield would be up before she could reach the entrance. Then, just before the energy field took effect, an external force pushed her forward, carrying the bounty hunter through the entrance just as the dreadnought was once more sealed.

She didn't have to look at the ice encased arms carrying her to know who had come to her rescue... again. Glancing upwards, she saw the ice encased head of her saviour, and knew the phrygisian was grinning.

"Rundas," the huntress demanded. "Don't say it."

To her immense relief, the cryomancer complied with her wishes, setting her down upon the floor of the ship and instead asking, "Just like old times Samus?"

_KT-557, LS-128, Valkyrie Station... _She thought back to some of her past missions, specifically those done in the company of the frosty hunter beside her. _Those were the days, before this whole mess with phazon began. _"The two of us raising hell on a space pirate fortress world? Similar enough," Samus agreed.

"Then we best get moving," Rundas said decisively. "As much as I would like to know where you got that fancy new equipment, or that obsolete gunship you just sacrificed, our reminiscing won't help the Federation combat this fleet. Any ideas?"

"The easiest solution would be to overload the ships power core," Samus supplied. "The resulting detonation would easily destroy this vessel."

"Sounds simple," Rundas agreed. "But something tells me you something a bit more... fun in mind."

"Possibly," Samus admitted. "We could also fight our way to the command bridge, space every pirate on board, and then start running into every pirate ship in sight with their own dreadnought."

"Sounds... not so simple. Do we have an idea of where the bridge might be?" Rundas questioned, the phrygisian equivalent of a grin forming on his face.

"None at all," the huntress replied, not missing a beat.

"Like old times indeed Samus," Rundas said with a chuckle. "Running around a hostile fortress without so much as a map."

"But isn't that how we always operate?" Samus asked, a grin spreading beneath her visor as well. Suddenly, she raised her arm cannon, pointing it towards what appeared to be nothing but air. "First though, we'll have to take care of the dozen or so pirates busy stalking us. Intruding on a private conversation like this... no manners at all." To emphasize her point, the huntress fired off a missile, the projectile suddenly detonating midflight and revealing the now dead body of a shadow pirate. And with that explosion, the entire room turned into hell.

A chorus of war cries reverberated through the room, as the 11 remaining cloaked pirates dropped from their hiding places, determined to eliminate the two person boarding party. Samus' dark visor, however, easily tracked the shadow pirates, the sensitive device seeing right through the cloaking fields they projected. Power beam shots leaped from the barrel of her arm cannon, the energy blasts making short work of her lightly armoured assailants. Aiming upwards, the huntress released a powerful beam of light, the fiery stream incinerating a pirate as it dropped down on her from above.

Rundas, though he had no dark visor, was not impaired by the cloaking technology either. Due to his homeworld's, or more accurately, homemoon's distance from the sun, light was far dimmer than it was in most other livable planets. To compensate for this, phrygisian's had far keener senses than most other races. So while a cloaked shadow pirate might be invisible to the _human _eye, it was far from that to a phrygisian. Now aware of their presence, he could easily see the blurred movements of the attacking pirates, and though he could not target a precise area, such precision was unnecessary when you could simply freeze your opponent to the core.

Twin beams of icy energy shot forth from his claws, blasting two of his opponents backwards into walls and freezing them in place. Spinning around, the cryomancer raised a pillar of ice from the ground, smashing another of his attackers into the rooms ceiling. Then, with barely a thought, impaled another against a wall, a spear of ice having materialized and embedded itself in the creature's chest.

It wasn't long before the room was cleared of threats, the two defenders making short work of the shadow pirates. With their ineffective stealth systems, the lightly armed and armoured troopers were no match for the powerful attacks of the two bounty hunters.

"Is this the best they can do?" Rundas demanded, staring down at the frozen body of one of their now dead adversaries. "I often wonder how they manage to give the Federation the trouble they do."

"The average marine isn't a cryomancer," Samus was quick to point out. "And the Federation doesn't augment its troops with chozo blood and technology either. I'd say we have a slight advantage when it comes to combat."

"True," the phrygisian bounty hunter agreed. "But now, I believe our discussion must wait. We have a dreadnought to steal, do we not?"

"Indeed," the huntress confirmed. "We don't know where the bridge is, but if we explore the ship and kill every pirate we see, then I'm sure we'll find it eventually."

Rundas laughed, a deep rumbling sound that seemed to emanate from his chest area. "I always did love your plans Samus. Lead on."

/\\/\

\/\\/

Shepard ducked back into cover, energy bolts streaking over his head as the pirates once again directed their fire towards him. They had just exited the command bridge when a boarding craft rammed its way _through _the walls and ten strange figures hopped out, weapons already ablaze with fire. The creature's aim was erratic, and they left their bodies completely exposed as they fired their weapons. Normally, Shepard's team would have slaughtered them in seconds. Unfortunately, Shepard was still trying to figure out how to fire his damn rifle properly. In fact, Tali was currently the only person on his team who had figured that mystery out. Probably her engineer's mind at work.

He just couldn't aim properly with a weapon that had no recoil. His first few shots would hit their mark, but the rest went sprayed in every which direction, as he subconsciously attempted to counterbalance for a kickback that was no longer there. Eventually, the hostiles, apparently a militia force of conscripted space pirate slaves and convicts from what he'd learned so far, were finished off, everyone except Shepard having gained control of their weapons. For a moment, as the rest of his team moved to join up with him, the spectre just glared at his Federation assault rifle, directing a litany of curses towards the energy weapon underneath his breath.

A warbling laugh snapped him out of his reverie, and the soldier spun a sharp 180 degrees around, bringing himself face to visor with a laughing quarian. "Err... Tali?" Shepard asked, unsure of the quarians intentions. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," she answered, laughter dieing as the quarian calmed herself down. "But I'm not so sure about you Shepard. I don't think I've seen _anyone _shoot that badly..." Suddenly, Tali gasped, as if realizing what she'd just said. "Not to say you're a bad shot though," she quickly apologized, "because you're not. You just seemed to-"

Shepard quickly raised a hand into the air, stemming the flow of unneeded apologies that he knew was sure to come. "Don't worry Tali," he reassured her, mentally chuckling at the engineers abrupt shift from soldier to nervous wreck. "When someone shoots that badly, it's okay to poke a bit of fun at them, even if it's your commanding officer. Now if you don't mind me asking, how did you manage to adjust to the lack of recoil so quickly? You were firing straight seconds after the battle started."

Upon hearing his question, the Tali burst into laughter once more. "Check the... left side of your... rifle please Shepard," the quarian managed to gasp out as she attempted to regain control of herself. Following her instructions, Shepard glanced at the indicated area, his eyes widening at what he saw. A small dial of sorts, currently set to zero, sat on the exterior of the weapon. Resting above the dial, the words _artificial recoil adjustment_ was printed in small font.

"And that, Shepard," Garrus explained, his mandibles spread in the turian equivalent of a grin as he stepped forward, "is why we actually _read t_he instructions sent to us by the giant floating brain thing."

Shepard sighed, annoyed but relieved by the new information as he adjust the dial, firing off a few test shots as he attempted to reach a level similar to that of his Avenger. A few adjustments later, the now satisfied spectre explained their current objective once more.

"Now that we've figured out how these weapons work," Shepard began, earning a quick objection from Garrus. "Okay, now that _I've_ figured out how these weapons work," stressing the I as he shot the turian a glare, "we will proceed to our first objective. According to Admiral Dane, the pirate's first objective will be to remove the ships power core, leaving us dead in the water. Apparently, a pirate strike team managed to sneak through Federation lines, and is enroute to the core room as we speak. As the closest specialty unit in the area," he silently wondered exactly what Dane meant by specialty unit, "it is our job to eliminate them. Follow behind me, and shoot at any pirates you see." A chorus of acknowledgements answered him.

Sprinting to their destination, it did not take them long to reach the area marked "core room" on their maps. However, it seemed the pirates had been just a bit faster, as one of them had already finished removing a strange capsule from a large pillar, immediately causing the lights and terminals within the room to flicker and die, coating the room in a momentary blackness before emergency lighting managed to activate. The pirate force did not appear too large, consisting of eight militia troops, though several were coated in some sort of heavy armour. They did not appear to have noticed Shepard's squad, but that could change at a moments notice, especially given the close quarters of the area.

Shepard briefly raised his hand signaling the team to halt, before pointing to several different locations within the area. Instantly grasping the meaning, his squadmates maneuvered themselves to the indicated areas, forming a rough semicircle around the pirate infiltration force. Slowly they raised their weapons and aimed towards the pirate infiltration team, still unnoticed. Then, when everyone was ready and in position, Shepard gave the order.

Energy bolts streaked towards the raiders from multiple angles, briefly confusing the pirate troops, concentrated fire cutting down several militiamen immediately. By the time they could respond, half their number was already down, leaving four troops left; the two armoured ones, and two of the standard militia troops. They hastily returned fire, their own energy bolts streaking towards several of Shepard's team's positions, forcing both Garrus and Liara down, and providing the pirates with a moment to prepare. Then, they did something Shepard could not have expected. They jumped towards him, crossing the entire distance between his team and their own positions in one leap. The entire _twenty-meter _distance, in one. Single. Leap.

With two pirates suddenly beside him, Shepard yanked his arm out of the assault rifle, tossing it to the side as he grabbed the Federation shotgun off his back. Unlike the rifle he had just discarded, the shotgun was held like the mass accelerator variant he was used to carrying, likely due to the "personal defense weapon" classification the Federation had stuck on to it. It was a semi automatic weapon, the E17 "Barricade" PDS (personal defense shotgun). The weapon released seventeen powerful energy bolts when fired, apparently with enough power to slice through flesh and all but the strongest armour at close range. It took a little over one second for the energy core to recharge between shots, very slow compared to the firing rate of Shepard's old Katana shotgun, but tended to kill anything up close in one shot anyway, plus the weapon never overheated, so it was a very acceptable compromise. Now he just had to see if it would work on the pirates.

He pressed down on the trigger, pointing the weapon at the unarmoured pirate next to him, which had just started to swing down at him with the vicious blade attached to its arm. The gun blew a gaping hole in the things chest, the interior of the pirate's body immediately cauterized by the heat of the energy burst. Yep. It definitely worked. The pirate uttered a single agony filled shriek, its hands desperately grasping at the area its torso used to occupy. Another shot removed its head from existence, putting the creature out of its misery.

With the first pirate dealt with, Shepard spun to deal with the armoured one, snapping 180 degrees around just in time to feel a flurry of shots impact against his shields. Checking his HUD, which was quite similar to that provided by his own N7, Shepard saw that his armour's energy meters had dropped to 74, down from the 99 it normally displayed. A solid 25 points of damage. He did not hesitate to return fire.

Another energy burst leaped forth from the barrel of his shotgun, striking the pirate in the center of its body and shattering the chest piece of the armour it was encased in, though the pirate itself was unharmed. Apparently sensing its disadvantage, the pirate wasted no time in charging towards him, confident in its close quarters abilities. Swinging viciously, it attempted to impale the spectre with its blade, which Shepard now saw was surgically attached to its arm, replacing the claw that would normally rest there. Shepard however, was no rookie when it came to CQB warfare, as evidenced by the shotgun he carried, and the vanguard classification placed on him by the Alliance.

Dodging to the side, he easily evaded the serrated blade, the weapon cutting through nothing but air. Then, with his adversary off-balance and vulnerable, he gathered his energy and threw the pirate biotically, smashing the creature into the wall behind it and shattering the rest of is armour with the force of impact. A shotgun blast followed, clipping the pirate's shoulder, the kinetic force of the impact tearing off the limb and knocking the pirate to the ground. A second blast ripped through the pirate's leg, tearing off that limb as well and extracting another pain-filled cry from the crippled pirate. A third and final blast put the alien, which was even now attempting to raise its weapon, out of its misery.

Sparing the mutilated corpse a glance, Shepard grimaced. These things were a whole lot tougher than the mercenaries and geth units they were used to fighting and seemed to have less regard for their lives than the husks deployed by geth, if that was even possible. Noticing that the sounds of combat had all died down, in the immediate vicinity at least, Shepard opened up the team-wide comms. "Give me a headcount," the spectre ordered. "Who's not dead?"

A series of "aye's" and other acknowledgements confirmed that none of his team had suffered any noticeable injuries... not that he had expected them to. It would take more than a few militia troops to take down his squad, even with their reckless and unpredictable attacks. Shepard just hoped that the higher level troops appreciated their lives a bit more than the militia they were currently deploying. If properly armed and armoured soldiers engaged in such desperate tactics than even his squad would be hard pressed to remain casualty free.

Fortunately, he didn't have time to dwell on such thoughts as 242 almost immediately reappeared in front of him, her brain-thing hologram displayed in the top-right corner of his visor. _Shepard,_ the construct began. _We need you to re-insert the Olympus' power core. Our weapons are disabled, and emergency shielding is decaying at an alarming rate. Retrieve the glowing cylinder from the pirate corpse beside you and place it back into the energy tower._

Shepard blinked. He had been focused on fighting the pirates and hadn't even noticed that one of his adversaries had been carrying the critical device. _Good thing I didn't shoot it... _ If he had known the pirate was carrying the mission objective, he certainly wouldn't have used a _shotgun_, of all things. _I have to pay better attention to the battlefield, _the spectre reprimanded himself.

Shoving the thoughts aside, he yanked the power cell off the back of the destroyed pirate corpse, paying the corpse little heed as he retrieved the cylinder. Respect for the dead could wait until after the mission, if a race of pirates and thieves could even deserve any. Sprinting the short distance to what 242 identified as an energy tower he followed the steps displayed by the intelligence; twisting, pulling, and pushing until the cylinder locked into place and a subtle humming started up, the relieving sound providing the soldier with a momentary respite as the Olympus' systems came back online.

_Excellent work Shepard, _242 congratulated, it's image once more appearing on his visor._ Admiral Dane sends his thanks. You and your team are doing a commendable job. However, we've had a major breach within one of the Olympus' primary docking bays. A space pirate frigate rammed through the doors, and while the ship was destroyed, its husk has jammed the emergency seals and is allowing multiple drop ships to make their way in. All available marines are being deployed to fend off the intruders._

"They rammed into the Olympus?" Shepard asked incredulously._ Sacrificing a frigate just to breach a hangar bay... It's like someone took world war two Japan and gave them starships._

_Yes, _the aurora unit relied calmly._ Please make your way to Hangar 2-7A as quick as possible. I have marked the location on your HUD's map. There isn't much time._

Before Shepard could respond, he heard Tali exclaim, "Shepard! The _Normandy's _docked in 2-7B! If they take A, than they have a clear shot at the ship!"

That was all the information his team needed. They took off at a sprint, relying on 242's map to guide them as the sounds of warfare grew nearer. Ahead, muffled cries could be heard, although none seemed human, the screeches almost drowned out by the constant noise of gunfire reverberating through the halls. Finally, they reached the entrance to the hangar, the door sliding open as they approached it and revealing a body ridden hangar bay. A gaping hole was present in the hangar doors, evidently caused by the wrecked frigate that was jammed between the two emergency shutters. An energy field appeared to be keeping the Olympus' atmosphere inside, but it didn't seem to actually stop anything from entering.

Currently, about twenty Federation marines were firing upon an approaching swarm of pirate militia, the hordes size at least three times the Federation's number. The pirates however, though large in quantity, were unorganized and sloppy, firing blindly at the defenders above, their shots rarely hitting their marks. The Federation defenders meanwhile, had the high ground, standing on the catwalks rimming the hangar and shooting down at the pirate raiders. Their level of training was leagues above that of the invaders, and their defense, unlike the offense of the militia scurrying below, was well organized and thought out, their positions allowing them to catch the pirate troops in a deadly crossfire. In this case, _massacre_ was not an inappropriate adjective.

Still, 242 had requested that they lend their support, and Shepard wasn't about to question the organic supercomputer when it came to dealing with an unknown race. Taking up positions along the catwalk, he and his team loaned their weapons to the battles, energy bolts cutting through the pirate boarding party. It wasn't long before every space pirate in the hangar was dead.

With the slaughter over, one of the marines turned to the new arrivals and said, "Fancy seeing you again commander. I take it 242 sent you as reinforcements?"

"Lt. Kyle?" Shepard asked, remembering the voice of the lieutenant who had greeted them upon entering the ship. "You're in charge here I take it?"

"Yep," Kyle confirmed. "I hope you're ready to hold out here for a while, because we'll be defending this position until either the pirate fleets retreats, we get the emergency doors closed, or we all die."

_Sounds a lot like Elysium... _Shepard didn't say. Instead, "we've got experience when it comes to fighting overwhelming numbers." He frowned, though no one could see it. "But after seeing that last slaughter... do you even need the extra reinforcements?"

"We will soon," Kyle said, his voice darkening. "Those were just militia troops. Cannon fodder. They send 'em in after every few waves of real troops, testing the waters and attempting to wear us down a little, than, wh-"

"Aerotroopers!" a marine shouted, interrupting the lieutenant. "Eight of them!" From his vantage point Shepard could see eight forms shoot in under the wrecked hull of the jammed frigate before pulling up, bringing themselves level with the surrounding catwalks. Kept aloft by some sort of propulsion device, it was obvious that these "aerotroopers" were a far cry away from the militia they had fought before.

Kyle didn't hesitate to take control of the situation. "Everyone concentrate fire!" he ordered, his voice calm and collected despite the suddenness of the attack. "I want two to three guns on each target! Remember, keep moving and stay in cover!"

Following the instructions of the lieutenant, Shepard moved from cover to cover, firing his rifle in conjunction with Kaidan and Garrus as they worked to take down one of the airborne menaces. It was difficult. The aerotrooper did not make itself an easy target, propelling itself in all directions as it worked to avoid the fire directed its way. It's own energy blasters were very powerful as well. A single bolt dropped his suits energy reserves from 74 to 63, and more were directed towards him every time he dared step out of cover. He remembered Kyle's warning about the necessity of always moving and had a nagging suspicion that if he stayed pinned down much longer than something very bad was likely to happen.

His thesis was quickly proven correct, as the pirate aerotrooper suddenly unleashed a barrage of missiles upon his position. _This day just keeps getting better..._ Even with a biotic barrier he wasn't likely to survive such a strike, and Shepard knew it. But maybe... A memory flashed through his mind, Admiral Hacket talking about a new biotic technique taught to the latest generation of Alliance vanguards. A charge? Shepard had not the slightest idea how to do such a thing, though he had a pretty good picture of what the result would be. So he took a gamble. If he won, the pirate aerotrooper died. If he lost, he died. It was a game he was intimately familiar with, and in all is life, his luck hadn't run out yet.

Narrowing his eyes, Shepard focused on one thing, and one thing only. The hovering pirate before him. He stepped out of cover, eyes still focused on the pirate aerotrooper as the missiles streaked his way. Then, almost without warning, he felt biotic energy flow through him and he _moved. _Moved fast. Impossibly fast. For a split second, the world was a purple blur, and then... impact. One thousand newtons of human flesh and biotic force slammed into the pirate, slamming it backwards into the hangar bay wall, enough force present in the blow to detonate the pirates propulsion pack and vaporize it's aerotrooper wielder. Then, with time seemingly slowing down around him, Shepard yanked out his federation pistol, firing three shots into the head of another pirate as he fell twenty feet to the ground.

The fall did not hurt him. It didn't even stun him for a moment, the biotic field around him taking the brunt of the impact. _**Fight. **__ Wait, what was that? _Shaking his head, he dismissed the thoughts. He had a battle to win. Shepard took a moment to register that three of the pirates were now dead, two killed by him. However, it seemed that the five remaining enemies had taken notice of his biotic display as every one of them started firing his way.

_**Kill. **__What? _That wasn't him. Something was wrong. Once more he charged, nothing more than a blue blur as he cut through the hailstorm of green energy directed his way. He was vaguely aware of a new energy flowing through him, steadily growing and amplifying his abilities. The next pirate he collided with had prepared for the attack, it's propulsion pack stabilizing it as it flew through the air, and saving it from the fate of his comrade before him. This did not bother Shepard.

_**Annihilate. **__No! That's not me! _He panicked, but he couldn't stop. He _wanted _to fight... kill... annihilate... With inhuman reflexes, enhanced by this newfound power, he grabbed onto the leg of his target with one hand and let the aerotrooper keep him aloft. Then, raising his other hand, which was now occupied by his Barricade shotgun, he fired the weapon at an aerotrooper moving to assist, the burst ripping through one of the thrusters on the pirates propulsion pack and sending it on an explosive crash course for the hangar floor. He grinned wickedly as he fired towards the pirate holding him aloft, not even noticing the transformation within him.

_**Destroy. **_ _Yes..._

/\\/\

\/\\/

Lt. Kyle Jefferson watched in stunned amazement as the thing that was Commander Shepard massacred the pirate aerotroopers that were so feared by federation marines. By the time they had brought the first one down, four marines had been killed or grievously injured. Then, entirely without warning, the Commander did... whatever he was doing. Kyle had never seen anything before like it. What was once a human commander was now a glowing blue meteor, blasting through the most feared of space pirate special forces with terrifying ease. But as long as it was on his side... Kyle was a fan.

His marines had stopped firing, probably worried about hitting the commander, the way he was moving around out there. Or maybe they were just frozen by the scene in front of them. He wouldn't blame them. Suddenly, the voice of his second in command interrupted his musing.

"Sir!" the marine exclaimed. "I was scanning the pirate's weaponry, and they're phazon based!"

"You mean like P.E.D. technology?" Kyle asked, suddenly worried.

"No, nothing like that," the marine reassured him. "But the aerotroopers have enhanced their weapons with phazon to increase the power output. It doesn't come close to the firepower of a weapon in hypermode, but it does make the weapons more dangerous. But that's not what scaring me. That soldier, commander Shepard, when he came in there was no phazon readings on him."

Kyle frowned behind his visor. "Most people have zero phazon readings on them. I'd be more worried if he did."

"That's not the point," Kyle's second in command explained. "I scanned him again. Look at the results."

Taking the scanner from the marine's hand, the lieutenant examined the results. What he saw made his heart freeze up.

/\\/\

\/\\/

**Assimilate.** _ He slammed into another aerotrooper, the biotic blast killing it instantly. He didn't need to slam them into walls anymore. 2700 newtons of force was enough to shatter every bone in a their bodies. They thought they could compete with him? He would make them suffer. He would make them pay._

**Convert.**_ The remaining two pirates fired desperately at him with their weapons, his barriers absorbing the green bolts, as his power grew further. Grinning sadistically, he surrounded an aerotrooper with a biotic bubble, trapping the pirate inside. Then he crushed it, compressing the pirate into a ball of flesh and armour, it's death instantaneous. _

**Absorb.**_ He let the last one fire away at him, floating in front of it as he savoured the delicious substance within the shots. It couldn't harm him. It could only make him grow. Faster. Stronger. He raised his pistol, energy from within flowing into the weapon, the handgun glowing blue with power. He fired, a burst of energy, glowing blue from this new energy within him striking the pirate in the chest. Then he fired again. And again. Twelve more shots struck the helpless aerotrooper, leaving only a charred and melted corpse behind._

**Consume**_**.**__ A roar from behind made the spectre turn his head, just in time to see a cybernetic dragon rip its way through the hangar doors. Shepard stared at it, grinning viciously as he confronted his newest assailant. This one would give him power. He could see the energy flowing through it, energy he would rip from its body._

**Corrupt.**_ It thought it could compete with him? _

_He would consume it all._

_He was corruption._

_He was phazon._

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><p><em>Heh, cliffhanger much? Hope you all enjoyed it. Your continued feedback makes this all worthwhile.<em>

_For like... the fifth time now, thanks to LawrenceSnake for being an awesome beta-reader._


	5. Chapter 4: War Inside His Head

_I know this chapter's been delayed a while, AND that it's far shorter than normal, but final exams and a lack of time in general have made writing rather difficult. Also, this chapter was a bitch to write. Anyway, I want to give a huge thank you to LawrenceSnake (yes, again) for making this chapter sound a lot less corny than it was before. Give him a big round of applause! I don't care if people are watching you. Do it anyways. You know he deserves it._

_Now... Enjoy!_

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><p>"Aha! This should lead straight to the command bridge," Samus enlightened the phrygisian beside her; she prepared to blow her way through yet another reinforced door.<p>

The two of them had spent a solid half-hour making their way through the space pirate flagship, searching for the bridge of the vessel and blasting away all of the assault teams sent to stop them, the end result was a detailed map of the ship they currently occupied, and a steadily growing pile of space pirate corpses for a good mile.

"How can you tell?" Rundas asked curiously.

"It says "Command Bridge" above the door Rundas," she deadpanned.

"Right." There was a moment of silence as each waited for the other to speak. Rundas broached the gap once more, asking: "So... Stealthy entrance? Or dramatic?" A powerful explosion, followed by a trio of what could only be power beam shots, answered him. Guttural shouts and snarls could be heard from within, evidently produced by the space pirates that manned the vessel as Samus dived inside.

"Dramatic it is," he chuckled, dashing through the new entrance crafted by Samus' arm cannon.

/\\/\

\/\\/

A similar explosion was present within hangar 2-7B of the Olympus, as the mechanical beast that was Ridley tore it's way into the battlecarrier, immediately turning to look down at the being that had pulverized so many of its minions. The phazon filled entity that was Commander Shepard.

Shepard glared right back as its eyes locked with his own, the beasts malicious orbs no doubt as hate filled as his own. It opened its jaws, orange energy charging deep within its maw. Shepard did not move. There was a flash, a beam of heat discharged from its mouth, blazing towards him at blinding speeds. He heard a cry from somewhere above. He ignored it. Then, without a sound, he projected an unstoppable phazon-biotic barrier before him. He vaguely noticed a stinging sensation within his head, but ignored it as he forced his barrier forwards, locked in a deadly struggle of reverse tug-o-war with the dragon before him.

Seconds passed, and then the beam stopped. He took advantage of this opportunity. With a roar, he charged forwards, impacting against the creature with a force of 3700 newtons. Though the attack lacked the same devastating effects it had on the aerotroopers, it was enough force to knock the beast back a number of meters, a feat no single man had ever before achieved. But the cyborg was far from finished, it swiped at him with powerful claws, yet it raked nothing but air as the spectre easily evaded the attacks.

Whipping out his shotgun, Shepardfired several bursts at the chest of the creature, overcharging the weapon and releasing a devastating phazon pulse. A shrill metallic cry emanated from the cybernetic dragon, and it leaped into the air, wings keeping it aloft as it hovered above him. A barrage of energy beams, projected from various appendages, assaulted his position, none making contact as he danced around the deadly weapons. Then, when his assailant ceased its attack, he charged it again, smashing through the hangar walls and dragging the fiend with him into the endless void of space.

/\\/\

\/\\/

"33 percent!" Kyle exclaimed in shock, recoiling from the datapad.

"And still growing," the soldier who had handed him the display said quietly.

"But... How can someone absorb that much phazon?" Kyle demanded. "And so fast?"

"I don't know sir, but I've never seen anything like it."

A sudden roar caught both their attention. Kyle snapped his head around, just in time to see a cybernetic dragon tear its way through the Olympus' hull. "Meta-Ridley," he gasped. _This day just keeps getting better... _He was about to give the order to fire when something caught his eye. The thing that was Shepard embroiled in an all out brawl with the space pirate's infamous leader.

He watched as the spectre repulsed the dragon's deadly energy rays with his _mind, _before charging in to engage Ridley in close quarters. The rest was just a blur, the intense battle almost impossible to follow, culminating with the two combatants crashing through the walls of the ship and sailing out into empty space. He stared at the Olympus' latest hull breach for a few moments before collecting himself and shouting, "Can anybody who's with the commander please tell me what the fuck just happened?"

There was a brief moment of silence before one of the commander's friends, clad in a strange black armour that he now realized must be the prototype adaptive sets that were in development, stepped forth to explain. "What you just saw," it began, in a distinctly female voice, "was something we call biotics. It's a rare condition for all races but my own, the asari, brought about by exposure to element zero. It basically allows people to do... well... what you just saw."

"So it's like... some form of telekinesis?" Kyle asked. It wasn't too difficult to swallow, as many races had natural abilities as strange as these "biotics." Jovian's could morph their entire bodies, and phrygisians could create and manipulate ice whenever the hell they wanted

"That is... accurate enough," the asari replied, answering his question. To emphasize her point, she waved her hand, lifting a nearby piece of debris off the floor and hurling it across the hangar. "But what Shepard did down there... A biotic display such as that has never been heard of before, even among my species' matriarchs. For a human, that kind of power should be impossible."

_So the scanner didn't lie..._ Kyle sighed. If that display was beyond even the most powerful of these "biotics," then only one substance could be at work to make it possible. "Phazon."

"Phazon?" the asari in front of him asked, evidently confused by the unfamiliar term.

"It's a semi-sentient substance that can infect and enhance just about anything, whether it be machine or organic," Kyle explained, already dreading the outcome of this conversation. "PED troopers use it to temporarily enhance their weapons on occasion, greatly enhancing power. Space pirates infect their people and equipment with it to make them stronger. Your commander appears to have absorbed it from space pirate weapons fire."

"Is it dangerous?" the worry in her voice was readily apparent.

"In small quantities it's only physically harmful, but in large quantities..." his voice was filled with trepidation as he attempted to explain the fate of her commander. "In large quantities it overpowers the recipient, mutating them entirely and taking complete control over their body and mind."

Silence. Then, after what seemed like an eternity, the asari asked, "How much is he infected with?"

There it was. The one question that no one wanted to answer. He was going to have to tell these people that their friend and commanding officer was now nothing more than a corrupted husk, a thrall of the phazon that had consumed him, and that they would most likely have to kill him if they ever saw him again.

_How the hell do you tell that to someone? _He sighed. "First, you should probably know that it's not _unheard of _for someone to overpower corruption. There are a few cases o-"

"How. Much?" A towering creature had walked up to the scene, clad in the same adaptive armour as the asari. Its voice was harsh, demanding an answer.

_Straight to the fucking point then. _He sighed. _Here goes... something. _Kyle took a breath, and then said, "It's not entirely accurate, but our phazon scanners placed his body composition at 33.7 percent phazon."

/\\/\

\/\\/

Shepardfired his pistol repeatedly, each bolt striking Ridley's gaping maw. The phazon bursts disrupted the upcoming beam attack, and the dragon's head snapped back, giving the corrupted soldierthe opportunity he needed to slam it with yet another biotic charge. In the zero gravity conditions of space, the force of the blow was enough to send both hurtling kilometers through the void, tearing through a space pirate frigate before being stopped by the hull of a large pirate dreadnought. Not even stunned by the blow, the slave to Phaazethrew out a biotic warp, the hyper-charged blast disintegrating a section of Ridley's wing.

An earsplitting mechanical cry tore from the beast's throat, unheard in the shadowy void of space, before the dragon began its furious assault anew. Talon and tail mixed with deadly energy rays to form a barrage certain to kill any mortal being. But Shepard was no longer a mortal being. He was phazon. Blindingly fast movements, accelerated with biotics, kept the disciple of The Great Poisonaway from the dragon's attacks, Ridley's swipes caught nothing but empty space, and its energy barrages only seared the hull of the dreadnought it hovered next to. Then, when it checked to see the devastation it had wrought, the lost manstruck once more, a furious biotic throw plowing the mechanical monster through the hull of the ship it fought by, it's body cutting through the interior before coming to a rest near the entrance to the command bridge. **Phazon**followed soon after, setting itself down near the head of the incapacitated space pirate leader.

It was still alive, but barely, the occasional twitches of its head or wings were the only indications of the life left within. That would be remedied soon enough. Tendrils of energy leapt forth from **Phazon's **body, burrowing their way through the space dragons incapacitated form. He felt the phazon course through his veins, energizing every aspect of his corrupted body as the tendrils drained Ridley of life and expedited its decomposition. Soon, the once fearsome cyborg was nothing but an empty mechanical shell.

Then, staring contemptuously at the metallic corpse, he laughed. It was a cruel and inhuman sound, accentuated by the anger and helplessness of its host as he fought against the corruption within. After a few moments, **Phazon **stopped, slowly turning to face the lone figure who had just entered the room. It would take this one as well, another pawn in its soon to be numerous legion.

Blue energy cloaked his body once more, shrouding him in a protective phazon-biotic barrier. Phazon tendrils sprouted once more, hovering menacingly in the air. But now they had a new purpose. **Assimilation. **

/\\/\

\/\\/

"He'll be fine," the towering figure, identified by Kyle's scanners as a krogan, asserted.

"Look, I kn- wait, what?" Kyle had expected rage or maybe resignation when he explained to them their commander's fate, and had prepared his responses accordingly. Yet the person in front of him, despite knowing the dangers of phazon and the minuscule chances of surviving corruption, seemed perfectly assured that the commander would be fine. It wasn't even denial. The krogan knew that Shepard would survive, and had no doubts whatsoever.

"You could send him to the galactic core and he'd come out fine," the krogan continued. "Hell, if you killed him he'd be back two years later shooting some new threat the politicians are too stupid to acknowledge. So I don't think a fancy infection is going to beat him."

""I agree with Wrex," another adaptive armour clad alien, this one identified as a turian, interjected. "We can't help Shepard until he decides to take a break from brawling with a space dragon, so I guess we'll just pass the time shooting stuff. That's always fun."

"Well there is a chance he could take back control, but it's minuscule at best, a scenario that's been repeated few enough times, I could count the number of incidents on one hand."

"You could probably count the number of sentient life-harvesting starships you've killed on one hand as well," the turian replied. "Shepard doesn't just play with the odds; he _eats_ them, and _chews them up_ until everyone else can eat them as well. _You don't doubt Shepard_." He said flatly.

"I hope you're right," Kyle replied. "Because if he comes back in his corrupted state... I doubt many of us will be leaving this hangar alive."

/\\/\

\/\\/

He could see everything. He witnessed every act of brutality he had ever committed, but was helpless to change any of it as the presence within locked him out of his own mind. Even now it was trying to crush what remained and shatter the last bastion of Commander J. Shepard's existence. _Shepard... _It was one of the few things he had left, one of the few memories that he could cling on to. It helped him resist... for now.

Even as he struggled he could feel more of himself slipping from his grasp. Little fragments of what was once Commander Shepard embraced the corruption inside. _Geth... pirates... reapers... _He knew they were important, but he could not understand why. This phazon was winning, and both combatants knew it. He watched as it leeched more phazon from its latest victim, just in time for another figure to dash into the room, it's body encased entirely within lustrous silver armour.

Suddenly, something sparked inside him. Didn't he know someone else whose body was enclosed within a suit? _Ta- _A wall of pain slammed into the frail remnants of what was once a spectre once more; nearly crushing what little control he had left. Shepard welcomed this pain. It meant he had discovered something that the phazon did not want found.

Defiantly, he focused all of what little energy he could muster on the elusive memory, screaming internally as the phazon mercilessly continued its assault on his mind, stripping away every aspect of his being, piece by piece.

_Environmental suit... shy pilgrim… technical genius... _his conscience burned, set ablaze as the phazon tortured what little of Shepard remained, desperately attempting to halt his progress.

_Veiled... beautiful... brave and selfless... _Suddenly, he could sense a new emotion from his assailant. Desperation_? Fear? _Was he _winning?_ The phazon was mercilessly employing every brutal tactic within its repertoire, and Shepard could feel every fiber of his being unraveling before it, his mind falling apart at the seams. But he pushed through it. He could feel his target within his grasp, and Johnathon Shepard would not be deterred.

_Anything... anything in her power... she'd do for me, I'd do for her… TALI! _With that one word, he knew he had found it. He yanked it from the phazon's grasp, cradling the memory close as he struck at the phazon one last time.

He had weakened himself irreparably in his drive to retrieve this one memory, and didn't have the strength to last any longer. The blow was nothing but a futile gesture... or at least, he thought it was. For reasons he couldn't comprehend, the phazon recoiled from the blow, temporarily pulling away from the mind it had laid siege to.

It was a hideously brief lapse, but it was all the time Shepard needed. Every memory associated with the name he had uncovered came surging back, surrounding his tortured mind in a soothing, liberating sense of absolution. He knew who Tali was, what she had done, and most importantly, who and what she was to _him. _

And now, equipped with his sword of recollection and his shield of remembrance, he could fight back against the corruption within. He could not...would not fail. He stabbed forth once more, the attack no longer a futile gesture, and began his own desperate assault to regain the identity he had lost.

The fate of John Shepard would be decided here, and though the odds were stacked against him, Shepard would fight tooth and nail for every cell in his body; for he had a promise to keep, and evil incarnate would not stand in the face of his pledge.

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><p><em>Thanks for reading! Be sure to give me your honest opinion of the chapter in a review. By doing so, you make future chapters better (and possibly even past chapters, if I decide to go back and edit them). Next chapter should hopefully be longer, and take less time to write. I do have english next semester, so I might end up with some extra time for writing. You never know.<em>

_And yes, the title to this chapter _**_was _**_inspired by the Dream Theater song of a similar name (War Inside My Head). If you picked up on that you win... uhh... the honour of having good taste in music? Congratulations!_


	6. Chapter 5: Lurking Predators

_Ha! I told you it lived!_

* * *

><p>Samus stared in shock as tendrils of blue energy leapt out from the marine, twisting about in the air before diving at the incapacitated space dragon that stood before him. They worked rapidly, burrowing through the pirate leader and draining him of all remaining life. Soon, nothing was left of the dragon but an empty husk, leached of all energy by the intruding cords. Then the marine turned to her, it's armour encased in a cocoon of intertwining veins of phazon, laughing a dark laugh that the huntress was intimately familiar with. The twisted laugh of her doppelganger from Aether, the physical incarnation of phazon energy that had plagued the world for so long.<p>

Slowly, she raised her weapon, emotions taking control over the logical portions of her mind. This _thing _had taken her form, committed countless atrocities in a twisted mockery of her image. It had stripped her of her weapons, trapped her on a dying world, and attempted to kill her at every opportunity. It forced a corrupting plague on a peaceful race so akin to her adopted family of before, and didn't even have the decency to stay dead when she killed it. And now, even when she'd ended all it had tried to achieve, it was back again, latching onto another.

Samus had done much in her life, and knew that few things in the universe were certain. But now, deep within the flagship of a pirate fleet, she'd have her doppelgangers fate written in stone. Today it died... No matter the cost. Without so much as a word to her adversary, she released a beam of supercharged light from her cannon before rolling to the side, not expecting the single shot to have much effect.

She could never have been more wrong.

The fight was over before it even began, the single burst of light impacting the corrupted marine center mass and initiating a chain of events that none could have anticipated. With a strangled cry, the phazon-imbued soldier stumbled to his knees, its phazon coating sinking into the special operations armour it bore. Slowly, the swirling tendrils of phazon energy retracted, reluctantly retreating to the shelter of their host. She briefly noticed Rundas entering the room, but paid the phrygisian hunter no notice. Her attention was focused solely on the enigma before her, her canon charged and ready to fire at a moments notice.

The logical portion of her mind told her to fire, to end the phazon threat right that moment. But her instincts gave her a much different set of instructions. Something was different this time around, they told her. Wait to see what happens next. With a sigh, she powered down her canon. For better or for worse, the huntress always trusted her instincts.

"Samus?" A familiar raspy voice began. "Did you kill him... again?"

"No." She gave a quick shake of her head, before pointing her arm cannon at the mysterious Federation marine who was even now struggling to his feet. "He did."

"Oh?" There was silence for a moment, as the two hunters pondered the latest turn of events. It was finally broken when Rundas asked the question, "so who the hell is he?"

/\\/\

\/\\/

He felt... different. As though something about him had been irreparably altered. His memories were for the most part vivid, only the past hour or so obscured by a thick and impenetrable haze. He wasn't certain, but something told him that what was behind that smoke was best left forgotten, so he put the matter aside for the moment. There were currently much bigger issues, predominantly the two armor-clad aliens observing him from across the room. A sudden flare of pain in his temple told him that he was likely to need some kind of help, and he attempted to climb to his feet. He had to hope that _these _aliens were friendly. They certainly didn't look like any of the other pirates he had so far encountered.

The silver-clad alien however, didn't think much of his sudden movement, raising its arm... gun... thing and pointing the barrel his way. _Okay... Maybe looks aren't everything,_ the wounded soldier thought to himself, ceasing movement. The silver-clad alien, apparently satisfied with his compliance, decided to speak.

"Who the hell are you?" it demanded, in a decidedly feminine voice.

"That would depend on who's asking," the crippled soldier easily replied.

"Who's asking," the silver-armoured alien began, "is not information freely divulged. If you must, you may call me the hunter." She appeared to hesitate for a moment, before continuing and pointing to the crystalline figure beside her. "That's Rundas." An indignant rumble followed the explanation, 'Rundas' apparently unhappy with his partner's revelation.

"I suppose then," the wounded soldier replied, "that you can call me the vanguard." He paused for a moment, and then continued, pointing at the crystalline alien himself. "That's Rundas."

The comment earned a barely-stifled laugh from the self-proclaimed hunter, and another indignant rumble from the target of the human's jabs. "I like you 'vanguard,'" the silver-clad hunter replied lightly, "and I don't like killing people I like."

_Heh, nothing like a bit of humour to defuse a situation, _the wounded marine thought to himself.

"But unfortunately," the hunter continued, her voice darkening considerably, "without your name, I'll have to do so anyway." She paused to let the revelation sink in. "Compliance is in your best interests."

There was a brief and tense silence, interrupted only by the glow of a charging cannon followed the threat. Finally, the marine relented.

"The name is Shepard," the soldier finally admitted. "Jonathan Shepard."

"Well then Shepard, my friend and I have to go finish a few things, so you're going to sit tight and wait for us to get back." She motioned something at her companion, and very suddenly, Shepard felt an icy coating lock his legs to the ground. "Sit tight," she finished, her and her companion exiting the room.

_What in the hell?_ Shepard thought, as he tugged against his icy bonds. _How does that even- _Any further thoughts were cut off as the distinct form of a space pirate burst through one of the many glass panels that made up the ceiling. For a moment, the two enemies simply locked gazes, taking in the features of their newest foe.

Then the pirate raised its weapon.

Shepard stared at the alien weapon, now pointed his way. "You've got to be-"

The gun fired.

/\\/\

\/\\/

"So..." Rundas began, tossing a limp space pirate corpse out of the pilots seat. "Next step?"

Samus pointed her arm cannon at the open door behind them. "You go check up on our new friend. Make sure he's okay, but don't let him out. I don't know if we can trust him."

"Easy enough," the phrygisian acknowledged. "What about you?"

The huntress merely sat down in the unoccupied helmseat, plugging herself in wirelessly to the dreadnought's electronic systems.

"Do you know how to fly that thing?"

"No," Samus replied simply. "But I'll figure it out."

"Your call Samus. Do try not to break everything. I'd hate to play cleanup again."

"Relax. We've already got the ship. What could go wrong?" The statement was punctuated with the sound of a not-so-distant energy bolt.

"Anything else?" the phrygisian inquired sarcastically.

"Go deal with it."

"Try not to crash," the phrygisian shot back as he turned to exit the command bridge.

/\\/\

\/\\/

Shepard glanced at the pirate in shock, as the ice restraining him cracked and fell away. Slowly, he got to his feet, suddenly noticing that whatever weapons he had carried before were long gone. _At least, all the ones that I carry, _he reassured himself. Being one of the rare human biotics was a condition he was often thankful for. Eyeing the pirate carefully, he reached within himself, ready to lash out at a moments notice. He was once more surprised however, as the pirate opted to speak instead of fire.

"There is no need for hostilities human," the insectoid hissed, a distinct raspy tone colouring its words. "I come to you with an offer."

"I'm listening," Shepard carefully replied, guard still up.

"Then listen well," it warned, "for we do not make this offer lightly. You would give your allegiance to the Federation, and advise all the other races you know to do the same. That would be a mistake."

"And throwing our lot in with pirates wouldn't?" Shepard shot back.

"Pirates?" The creature laughed. "The Federation calls us pirates, to aid with their propaganda, but they lie! We are the Zebesians, the progressors!"

"Funny that," Shepard chuckled. "I imagine the Federation would have something similar to say about you."

"They would limit you, halt progress for the sake of mere ethics considerations! You have seen the power of phazon, and you know of your reapers. Would you allow the lives of a few million to stand in the way of protecting billions?"

Shepard felt a very uneasy feeling overtake him. How did this creature know of the reapers? Were they agents of the sentient machines? Survivors of a past cycle? "How do you know of the reapers?" the spectre demanded.

"That all depends on you, human. A starship is not the best place for a conversation." Suddenly, it tossed a small datapad his way. He caught it easily. "We will converse more at that location," the pirate rasped. "You may bring the quarian as well, if that is your wish. She might enjoy what I have to say."

Shepard didn't have a chance to reply, though the alien's knowledge of him and the people around him disturbed him. A bright light flared suddenly, and the pirate vanished. A few moments later, a door slid open, 'Rundas' bursting into the room. The alien took one long look around the room, before glancing back at the newly freed human. "How'd you get free?" He demanded. "And what the hell happened to the dead dragon?"

"I... what?"

"I restrained you myself human," the alien elaborated with a growl, "and the mechanical dragon corpse didn't fly off on it's own."

"Oh..." Shepard chose his words carefully. "I don't know what happened to... that, but I suppose you could say that I was released by a... diplomatic emissary?"

"A diplomatic emissary?" Rundas asked disbelievingly. "Alright human, I'll play your game. Pray tell who sent an emissary to greet you in the center of a space pirate battleship?"

Shepard gave the alien before him a long look, considering his options. There really was no point in lying, he realized, and the truth would probably make cooperation a much easier task. Besides, it's not like he couldn't lie to the space pirates after all this was done.

"Called themselves the Zebesians, and the Progressors among other things," Shepard explained without hesitating.

"Space Pirate diplomacy?"

"Seemed like it. Came to me proposing an allegiance to save all life in the galaxy from some sentient starships hell bent on the extermination of organic life."

For a long moment, the alien before him was silent. Finally, he spoke, and the response wasn't quite what the spectre had expected. "Given the state of things out there," he gestured at the starry void of space visible through the energy barrier sealing off the room from vacuum, "that actually sounds somewhat plausible."

Shepard opened his mouth to speak again, but the alien raised a finger... claw… talon? to cut him off.

"Now in normal times," Rundas continued. "I would call you insane and either shoot you, or ship you off to a mental institute after collecting whatever bounty on your head was available... But these aren't normal times. On my way here, I encountered a human colony not on any of the charts. Their technology was severely out of date, and they were under assault by a race of aliens I've never once encountered... also out of date. Four eyes... humanoid... brownish skin? Sound familiar?"

Shepard let out a low growl at that. "Batarians," he whispered.

"I had a hunch you might know of them," the phrygisian continued. "You see, once I dealt with those... batarians... I found that none of those humans could understand a word I spoke, without my helmet translating." He paused for effect. "Neither could you."

"Well funny that..." Shepard began weakly, scratching at the back of his helmet.

The phrygisian didn't give him the opportunity to continue. "You're not a Federation human, Commander Shepard, but you wear armour given to only their best operatives. _Who, _or _what_ are _you?_"

"That's... a bit of a long story, so I'll make you a deal. As soon as I can get back to the Olympus and make sure my ship and crew are okay, we'll talk on one condition."

"And what's that?" Rundas inquired cautiously.

"You tell me how the hell you froze my legs solid."

The phrygisian chuckled. "I think I'll take you up on that offer Commander... I expect we'll be docking with the Olympus very shortly." He looked out the energy barrier once more. "Very, very shortly... SAMUS!"

Spurred by the phrygisian's shout of surprise, Shepard glanced out the energy barrier currently functioning as a window, and saw to his horror, the broadside of a Federation Battlecarrier... One growing ever larger as their hijacked vessel closed the distance. Whoever was piloting their ship had the dreadnought on a direct collision course with the Federation vessel, and violent impact seemed like a highly probable resolution.

They could not have been more than a kilometer away from the looming battlecarrier, nowhere near enough distance to come to a complete stop before impact, so Shepard did the only thing he could do. He wreathed himself in biotic energy and braced for impact. With a groan, the ship lurched to a halt, flinging both him and Rundas into the bulkhead of the ship and leaving both warriors a dazed and confused mess on the floor. It actually took Shepard several minutes to get to his feet and realize that they had not, in fact, gutted their allies with the bow of a dreadnought and that, by some miracle of science, the ship had managed to halt itself but a few hundred meters from the Federation flagship.

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed his phrygisian companion also climbing back to his feet, shaking his head as he did so. "It's times like this," the phrygisian groaned, "that I wish I'd never left the ice mines."

"It's times likes this," Shepard responded in kind, "that I regret dropping out of med school."

"But the thrill of the hunt, of the adventure, that makes it all worth it, does it not?"

Shepard thought back to the hunt for Saren, and the memories that came with the monumental adventure, good and bad alike. He thought about the people he'd met, the worlds he'd saved, and the experiences he wouldn't trade for the galaxy. "It certainly does," the spectre whispered.

The two of them were silent for several more minutes, simply standing and reminiscing on journeys gone by, until Rundas finally broke the silence. "Well if nothing else, it's certainly been... interesting to meet you Shepard. But if you'll excuse me, I have to go exchange a few words with our pilot."

"I don't suppose I can follow you? I kind of came in through the wall, so..." he hesitated for a moment before continuing. He always had hated asking for directions. "I really don't know my way around the ship too well, and getting lost in a space pirate dreadnought doesn't seem too appealing at the moment."

"It's actually probably for the best that you come," the phrygisian admitted. "I imagine that Samus will be rather interested in your origins story as well."

"Samus?" Shepard inquired.

"Right," Rundas sighed. "She gave you that stupid moniker the space pirates gave her when she blew up Zebes the first time."

"The first time?"

"You don't get my stories until I get yours," the phrygisian shot back. "Point is, her name, if you hadn't figure this out already, isn't actually 'The Hunter.' It's Samus."

"There was a marine talking about a Samus Aran back on the Olympus," Shepard stated. "I'm sensing a connection."

The phrygisian chuckled. "Samus might be a _little_ popular with the Federation right now. Deadliest thing in space... Excepting me, of course... and she's on their side. It usually costs them, but the people tend to overlook her bounty hunter status when she's saving them from Space Pirate abduction."

"Wait, so the two of you are bounty hunters?" Shepard asked, surprised.

"Most all the elite operatives in Federation space are bounty hunters," Rundas chuckles. "Maintaining a gunship and advanced personal equipment is expensive, and being a third party pays more. Besides, when you're as good as me, you're on the 'call first list' anyway."

"Call first list?"

"Whenever they've got a suicide mission, they call me, or one of several other hunters first. I've taken on several lifetimes' worth. We might be elite, but in the eyes of the government high-ups, we're expendable as well," Rundas noted with more than a little distaste.

Shepard didn't have a chance to respond, as they'd already arrived at their destination, and Rundas was already marching through the sliding doors.

"Space Pirates overloaded the control systems," Shepard heard a female voice coolly explain. "I had to override the forward engine servos to stop us in time."

"You've already used that one Samus... Twice."

"I thought I told you not to let him out," the sudden change in conversation caught Shepard off card, and the venomous edge in Samus' voice sent a chill up his spine.

"I didn't let him out," Rundas explained. "Space Pirate diplomatic team did it apparently, now stop changing the subject."

"There's no subject to change," the silver armoured hunter pointedly stated. "I prevented a Space Pirate sabotage attempt from crashing this dreadnought into the Olympus."

"The lack of a chozoid control interface had _nothing _to do with our latest near death experience?"

"None."

Shepard watched from the sidelines as the two hunters stared each other down, not entirely certain as to what their disagreement stemmed from in the first place. Finally, Rundas backed down, muttering something about 'blasted expressionless helmets,' and Samus turned her full attention to him.

"Now then Shepard... The Olympus' Aurora unit managed to contact me not to long ago, it also helped me override the space pirate control lockdown." Rundas gave a snort of derision at that. "At which point it told me a few rather, interesting, things about you. I have to say now Commander, that I am quite looking forward to working with you."

Shepard took a moment to let that sink in. "Do I even want to ask?" the spectre questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, it's nothing major," the female hunter reassured him. "Just a few - more than a few - for you and your crew, free passage through Federation space, and the opportunity to 'introduce the Galactic Federation to your part of the galaxy'."

"So... I pulled escort duty?"

"We both did. I'd try to break it to your crew slowly," Samus advised. "You don't want a mutiny when you start bringing the politicians aboard."

"They've dealt with out ambassador before," Shepard chuckled. "They're already veterans."

"Good. The Olympus already sent a shuttle to pick us up from one of the hangar bays so we can get the hell of this ship. I think that you," she pointed her arm cannon at Shepard, "Have a lot of things to explain to a great deal of people."

Shepard thought back to his latest brush with death, and the lingering feelings it brought to head. He thought of his crew, still aboard the Olympus and likely unaware of his situation. He thought of things unsaid, things that should have been said far too long ago.

"I think I do," he finally voiced.

* * *

><p><em>And it doesn't just live... It's thriving. Chapter Seven is almost done folks, you can expect Chapter <strong>Six <strong>next Tuesday. _

_Heh. Nothing for six months, and now I'm writing faster than I can publish. Funny that._

_Oh, and a big thanks to Norse Raider for being an awesome person. Seriously, guy checked over my work AND allowed me to bounce all my crazy ideas off of him. There's some really cool stuff coming up that wouldn't exist if it wasn't for that guy, so give him a big round of applause. If people are watching you type and you actually care about little things like peoples perception of your mental state, then just do it quietly. _

_Thanks for the patience guys, you can call off the hit squads. That laser sight is making me more then a little nervous..._


	7. Chapter 6: The Secrets That Lie Within

_This will likely be reposted in the near future, as it has yet to be reviewed by my beta-reader. However, I really wanted to give all of you a little something to celebrate the holidays with. Hope your all having a great Christmas, or Hannukah, or any other holiday you might celebrate._

* * *

><p>"This- this is amazing!" The Federation doctor exclaimed, in an accent Shepard could only describe as French. "Self regulating phazon, perfectly in sync with its human host!"<p>

It hadn't taken long for the Federation to get Shepard into an examination room. He'd tripped half a dozen alarms in the decontamination cycle, and Fleet Admiral Dane had whisked him down to the medical wing before he could even ask what was wrong. They had at least brought Liara down with them, apparently for her knowledge of biotics, so he did have that to be thank for. _Still... Some explanations as to what is inside my body wouldn't be unappreciated..._

"But isn't that always the case doctor?" Dane asked skeptically, interrupting his musing.

"Non! Not at all!" the doctor - Jaques was his name - exclaimed. "In every other documented case of phazon bonding, the symbiotic relationship was more akin to parasitism, and the hosts decayed quickly."

"So what's different this time Jaques?" The admiral inquired.

"The phazon has attached itself to these... what did you call them?" He glanced at Liara.

"Element Zero nodes," the asari supplied.

"Yes, the phazon has attached itself to these element zero nodes almost exclusively!" Jaques explained. "There is not enough remaining in the rest of the commander's systems to do cause damage, and the nodes do not appeared to be harmed by the phazon attachment. It is more akin to mutual symbiosis than anything else. The side effects of the bonds are ast-"

"Excuse me," Shepard finally interrupted. "But 'The Commander' would like to know just what the hell has infected his body."

"Not infected Commander," Jaques reassured. "The phazon has simply bonded with the Element Zero strings within your nervo-"

"What Doctor Jaques is trying to say," Dane interjected, cutting the doctor's tangent short, "is that you've been infected-" Jaques gave a noticeable huff of irritation at that - "with phazon, the deadliest substance in the known universe, and somehow come out the better for it."

"Better?" Shepard inquired, suddenly intrigued.

"You're stronger Commander, quite a bit stronger actually, and your... Biotics, they were called?" He looked to Liara for confirmation, who nodded her head. "Such a fascinating ability. You must simply tell me all about them Dr. T'soni, as soon as time is made available. I wou-" Glares from everybody in the room cut him off this time. "Ahem... Your biotics will be multiplied tenfold if you can tap into the phazon inside you. A few minor adjustments to current PED technology should make that possible. Your eyesight was also affected strangely enough... You should be able to see better in all conditions."

Shepard's eyes widened as the benefits were listed. That kind of raw power was unheard of for a human being. There had to be some sort of downside. "What's the drawback?" he demanded.

"I do not know Commander," Jaques answered back. "I do not even know if there is one. We are treading the unknown now. Such a unique case as yours has never before been seen in recorded Federation history. You are the most remarkable of specimens."

"He's not a lab rat doctor," Dane warned. "He contributed to the defense of the Olympus and fleet as a whole."

"But of course not admiral!" Jaques exclaimed. "Such crude tactics would be tremendous waste of Commander Shepard's potential, if nothing else! But you cannot deny Admiral that his body is a scientific marvel! These biotics, this mutual symbiosis with phazon... we cannot pass by this opportunity!"

"Commander Shepard is a member of another alien civilization. Even if he was a Federation citizen, sapient experimentation is illegal in all but the most extreme cases!"

"You misinterpret my intentions admiral! I do not wish to experiment... at least not in the manner you are suggesting. I want to give him the PED! It will require only a few adjustments, ones that I can make myself if need be, and we will have created a soldier like none other!"

A thoughtful look crossed Dane's face at that. "That all depends on what Shepard wants," the admiral said slowly. "And we're not giving anything to anybody until we know a lot more about where Shepard and his crew came from and what that place is like." He turned to face Shepard before continuing. "The whole of the Olympus fleet is indebted to you Shepard, but I can't give away that kind of technology if your people are going to turn hostile the moment we meet them. You understand my trepidation I hope Commander?"

"Of course admiral," Shepard assured him. "While anything that can assist me in future operations is beneficial, I understand... I understand..." _Why am I feeling so light headed now? _ "Admiral... I-" Suddenly, fire seared through his veins and the man known as Commander Shepard slipped into unconsciousness.

/\\/\  
>\\\/

"Shepard!" Liara cried out.

"Jaques, what just happened!?" Dane demanded.

"I do not - wait... phazon levels are spiking... The phazon in his body is replicating... He's going into shock!"

"Well do something about it!"

"I am doing my best!" Jaques shouted, typing away furiously on a holopad. "I don't... We need to give him the PED!"

"Now?" Dane asked incredulously.

"It is the only way to drain the excess phazon in time to save him," Jaques frantically explained.

"I- Do you even have the system?"

"Of course. I ordered it down the moment I heard about the Commander's condition. My machines have been making the necessary adjustments since I received the first scan from the decontamination systems." Jaques allowed a small grin to split his features.

"Always prepared, aren't you doctor?" Dane asked with a tired smile.

"But of course."

"Dane opened his mouth, hesitating slightly, before conceding. "Do it."

"Thank you Admiral. Now I want everybody that isn't Doctor T'Soni or myself out of the room. Time is of the essence!"

Dane exited Jaques office, a slight shuffle finding its way into his stride. He was barely a few paces out the door when a hand on his arm stopped him. He turned to find himself face to helmet with the quarian from Shepard's personal squad.

"Thank you," she said softly.

"The politicians will have my head for it," Dane groaned. "But I couldn't say no."

The quarian giggled, despite the situation. "Shepard said that himself quite a few times. Just tell them you did it to save the life of a very important person from a foreign galactic government."

"We'll see..." Dane muttered softly. "I've seen Jaques pull off some miracles, but phazon is still something we have next to no real understanding of."

"He's Shepard. He'll pull through."

"I hope so..." A man like that doesn't deserve to go out from phazon poisoning.

"No," the quarian said softly. "He doesn't."

/\\/\  
>\\\/

Dane stood outside the Normandy's airlock. The Normandy crew had been given permission to explore the ship as long as they kept an escort with them, but for the most part they opted to stay with their ship. A melancholy aura seemed to have draped itself around the Normandy crewmembers, and it wasn't hard to figure out why. When Shepard had been incapacitated, nobody knew whether or not the spectre would survive - they still didn't in fact. That information Dane had come to deliver personally.

The door opened for him, and the fleet admiral was met with the figure of the ships navigator and current executive officer, Pressly. "Is there something I can help you with Admiral?" The man inquired.

"I have confirmation of Commander Shepard's condition," the admiral stated, flashing the man a fake smile.

"That's great news admiral," Pressly exclaimed. "I'll gather the ground team in the briefing room. They deserve to know first. Then I'll make the announcement over the PA." The man walker off, a quiet "I knew he would make it," the last words the admiral heard from him as he left down the hall. Dane allowed a sad smile form as he made his way to the indicated briefing room.

Upon entering the room, Dane found that the only members of the ground team currently present were the lieutenant, Kaidan Alenko, and the asari, Liara T'soni.

"The rest will be here shortly," Liara informed him. "Maybe a minute."

Sure enough, barely a minute later the rest of the team made its way into the room, the turian muttering something about shutting down the safety buffers on a certain elevator system. It did not take long for the questions to start.

"Is Shepard okay?" the quarian Dane had talked to earlier, Tali, asked.

"Due to the quick thinking and actions of Dr. Jaques, with the assistance of Dr. T'soni, we were able to save Commander Shepard's life" -He raised a hand to forestall the impending celebration- "However... He has yet to awaken from the coma the phazon overload put him in, and as of now, we still do not know when he will wake up."

The room was silent for a moment, before the turian asked, "He will wake up though?"

Dane nodded his head in affirmation. "He should exit the coma around the time his body manages to eject all the excess phazon built up in his systems. We're accelerating the process with a modified phazon enhancement device, but I imagine that it will still take quite some time to get it all out."

"But when he does wake up..." Dane was surprised to hear the krogan speak up. The large reptilian hadn't spoken much to the Federation personnel on the Olympus, "He'll have biotics more powerful than an asari matriarch and be tough as a krogan to boot. I can't speak for the others," He gestured at the rest of the team. "But that's something I can appreciate."

"You're doing the best you can to help him," Tali agreed. "And that's all anyone can ask, isn't it? You said you can help him, and I... I believe you can." A chorus of mumbled agreements followed the quarians proclamation, showing if on their satisfaction, than at the very least their acceptance, and trust in him and his ship.

"There's another issue as well." Dane continued, once the voices had died down. "It is my understanding that you were on a diplomatic first contact mission when you came aboard. Instead, I dragged you into a battle with the space pirates of all things, a battle which resulted in the complete incapacitation of your Commanding officer. Now we still need to make contact with your actual government, while maintaining fleet position in case the space pirates mount another assault, and I don't even know how to get there!"

"Admiral," the Olympus aurora unit's avatar popped into view from a projector on Dane's arm, causing several of the Normandy crew members to jump in their seats. "Before his incapacitation, Commander Shepard provided me with the location of the Citadel Space Station in what he assured me was a gift of goodwill. Analysis of the coordinates has confirmed that this 'Citadel' is only a short jump away, and in a rather... intriguing location."

"Intriguing how?" Dane asked, not certain whether he'd even want to hear the answer.

"It is in the same star cluster as Norion, Admiral," the aurora unit stated.

…

Definitely not something he'd want to hear.

"Norion? That can't- 242, are you certain you were provided the correct coordinates?"

"Explicitly, Admiral. Hyper-wave decoders* in Norion's orbit detected it themselves about the same time the Normandy made contact."

"How long has the Citadel existed?" Dane asked, hoping against hope that it was just a recent construction.

"At least 50,000 years admiral," Liara supplied.

"That... There's no way that can be right!" Dane exclaimed. "We have detected a station that size long ago!"

"I cannot provide a definitive answer admiral," the aurora unit admitted. "I can however, supply a hypothesis."

"Shoot," the admiral affirmed. "I'll take anything at this point."

"It would appear admiral, that the Citadel's sudden appearance was not a simple case of previous failure of detection, but rather it was quite what it appeared to be: A sudden appearance.

Dane looked back at the assembled Normandy team, most of them wearing confused looks on their faces. "I don't suppose this Citadel of yours has a built in warp drive?" he asked hopefully, despite knowing the answer.

Liara shook her head.

"The whole universe is going insane around me..." Dane muttered. "242, are you certain of your facts?"

"Yes admiral."

"Well I can't argue with a supercomputer..." The fleet admiral turned his gaze back to the Normandy team, all of which were looking at him expectantly. "Well I've got good news, and... Other news," the admiral began. "The good news is that your Citadel is close. We can be there in very short order."

"And the other news?" Garrus asked.

"It would appear that your Citadel and the primary Federation fortress world of Norion moved in together when we weren't looking," Dane chuckled tiredly. "They're less than a few minutes warp travel away from each other."

"I don't think that having a foreign military base on their doorstep will sit well with the people of the citadel..." Liara mused. "Do you think that it will make the upcoming talks more difficult?"

"To be entirely honest with all of you," Dane replied. "I don't know any more. Hell, I don't think anybody does. Somebody flipped a switch to turn the universe upside down, and it looks like they broke it in the process. At the very least, it'll make picking up a diplomatic team an easier affair."

"Than you should probably get there quickly Admiral," Garrus suggested. "Our council can be rather... difficult, when they're scared."

Dane allowed a small smile to spread across his features. "We're already on our way."

/\\/\  
>\\\/

Nairut Cireneg** sat at his terminal in the Citadel traffic control tower. The turian was part of a new wave of recruits, hired after that up and coming reporter aired her story about the work conditions in the traffic control areas. A human reporter at that. It didn't really surprise him that the species already had their seat on the council, changing and revolutionizing the galaxy the way they were. As a proud turian, he considered it his duty to maintain law and order, and protect others where he could, and that was why he offered his services to the beleaguered control staff, but he'd done quite well during his brief stint in the navy as well. He remembered a simulation with a human battle group, and the effectiveness of their strange but brutally effective fighter-carriers.

No, it was definitely no surprise that they had advanced as they had. He couldn't recall another race in history so quick to ju- a beeping from his terminal interrupted the turians musing.

Quickly, he checked the readouts on the machine, mandibles flaring slightly in confusion. Are you getting these?" he asked his salarian counterpart beside him.

"Yes. Very strange energy reading," the salarian hurriedly replied. "Intriguing, but should inform proper authorities. Do not ha-"

The salarian was cut of as alarms began to flare all around them.

"Size detection alerts!" Nairut exclaimed. "But those only detect sovereign class vessels... Check the readouts!"

"Not sovereign sized," the salarian assured him after a quick glance at his terminal.

"Thank the spir-"

"Bigger."

"How many?" Nairut whispered.

"Just the one," his co-worker replied. Length of the unclassified vessel estimated to be at least three kilometers... Design is unknown."

"Spirits. We have to alert the council, and the defense fleets! If that ship turns hostile..."

"Already done," the salarian assured him. "Shortly after ships arrival, in fact. The Will of Gothis is already responding. Little to do now, except wait and hope for the best."

/\\/\  
>\\\/

"Repeat, unknown vessel, this is the 'Will of Gothis' of the Citadel Defense Fleet," the voice crackled over the speakers a second time. "You are trespassing in citadel space. State your name and intentions, or surrender yourself immediately to impounding and investigation."

"Are they always this jumpy?" the Olympus comms officer asked the turian beside him.

"Not usually," Garrus answered. "But the station was assaulted quite recently, so I imagine they have everything on high alert."

"Comms," Dane ordered from the head of the bridge. "Please provide the Citadel Defense Fleet with our response.

"Yes sir," the man answered immediately. "Ahem." He spoke into his communicator. "Will of Gothis, this is the battlecarrier Olympus, representative of the Galactic Federation of United Species. Our intentions are peaceful."

There was a long moment of silence before the voice came on back over the speakers. "Roger that Olympus," the Gothis responded. "We will escort you to the Citadel station."

"That will not be necessary Gothis," the comms officer chuckled. "We brought our own escort." On cue, six 'Griffin' class frigates jumped into formation around the Federation flagship, pinpoint warp tunnels the bringing the combat vessels into position in a matter of seconds. "We will, however, accept a guide."

"I..." the voice on the other side of the line was noticeably shaken, hesitation and disbelief coming over clearly. "Understood Olympus. We will guide you to the station. Please stay in communication at all times, or we will assume hostility."

"Roger that Will of Gothis. We will follow your lead."

With that, the Olympus and her escort made their way to the Citadel station, the diplomatic team picked up at Norion on board Normandy and ready to make history for both meeting factions.

**Uncharted System: Same Time as Citadel/Federation Diplomatic Discussions.**

Myrticken L'vade ran, ran from the shadows. The shadow people had taken everything: his friends, his family, his village, and now they wanted him too. They came on their great rock, flattening the Rik-Tok jungles with their arrival, and then the darkness spread across the sky, taking all that it wished. No rutak was safe.

Suddenly, he heard a rustling in the nearby underbrush, a chilling slither that seemed to be echoing from all locations at once. Frantically, he drew his sword, a fit from his hur'ta for his twelfth cycle-celebration and turned around. Red eyes met his own, ruby orbs glaring with malice, fixating their hatred on his very essence. The young rutak screamed, and darkness overcame him.

* * *

><p>* Catch the reference?<p>

_**Nairut Cireneg was not a very unique turian_


	8. Chapter 7:Of Meetings and Misdemeanours

_Once again, the chapter is a little rough. My beta reader's been busy lately, but I want to try and stick as close to my intended update schedule as possible. This and the last chapter will probably be republished in the near future, but I'll let you know if anything major actually changes. So until then, have some politics._

* * *

><p>The holoframe froze, locking on the image of the Federation diplomatic team making their way up the citadel tower. It looked about as one would expect, if one ever expected a diplomatic team from a galactic federation of alien species, excepting one outstanding factor. The human, clad in the same uniform worn by the other representatives, leading the group.<p>

"Councilor Anderson," the turian councilor began with a glare. "Care to explain the meaning of this?"

Anderson was at a loss for words. There wasn't a single race shown in the group that he recognized, save for his own, yet from the looks of things his fellow councilors were even now expecting some sort of coup.

"There is no meaning to explain Sparatus," Anderson carefully started. "I don't recognize a single race amongst the displayed, nor do I recognize the human leading them."

"Do you truly expect me to believe, Anderson, that this is another race, one that just happens to look identical to your own?"

"I can't offer any other explanation Sparatus, other than perhaps this may be an offshoot race of my own.

"You can't-"

"Sparatus, restrain yourself!" Tevos demanded. "We can prove Councilor Anderson neither right nor wrong, unlikely as his suggestion may be. Do not forget that prothean ruins were found very close to humanities homeworld. It is entirely possible, if unlikely, that the protheans could have moved samples of early humans to other worlds. Regardless, I imagine that all will be explained in due time." A chime sounded itself from the asaris terminal. "Now calm yourselves. Our guests have arrived."

Surely enough, the doors to the councilors meeting hall slid open, admitting the almost a dozen representatives the Federation had supplied. One of them in particular wasted no time in getting started.

"We demand that you remove your station from our space immediately!" a gargantuan creature, covered in a thick and jagged shell like layer of natural armour demanded, it's voice rumbling across the hall.

"Your space!?" Sparatus exploded, tossing his asari counterparts advice aside.

"Our space!" the alien affirmed, pointing a massive arm ending in a vicious looking set of pincers the turians way. "We contr-"

It was cut off as a translucent looking hand found its way to its shoulder. The alien halted its speech and glanced back at its companion, who provided a slight nod of reassurance. Reluctantly, the massive creature backed down.

"I apologize for ambassador Mishka's brashness, councilors," the alien apologized. It was feminine, with a purple hue to its seemingly translucent skin that gave it an almost ethereal appearance. "The Ni-Ta-Koy are a young race, and still quite territorial. Ambassador Mishka is one of their first representatives, and is still learning the rules and subtleties of politics." The aliens voice had a divine grace to it, hypnotic almost, and Anderson quickly came up with a name for the new race: Sirens.

Sparatus looked as though he wanted to argue the point, but fortunately restrained himself. "The council accepts your apology," the turian replied begrudgingly.

"Thank you councilor," the alien replied, giving a small bow. "I am Ambassador Vandra, representative of the Jovian civilization, one of the three founding races of the Galactic Federation. With me are ambassadors Mishka of the Ni-Ta-Koy, Nahlara of the Aviva, Lockheart of humanity, Vandra of the Jovians, Walks-in-Whispers of the Ethereal, Mordesh of the T'ska,* Vyrgg of the Koalek, and Chloryll, of the Alaran

The four councilors of the citadel made their own introductions, casting suspicious looks the way of the human Federation ambassador.

"Now then, before we begin," Tevos started. "It think it would be best for all of us gathered if an explanation was provided for ambassador Mishka's rather... brazen, insinuations."

None of the councilors noticed the knowing smirk that briefly cross the Ni-Ta-Koy ambassadors visage at the asari councilors words, nor the victorious gleam in the eyes of the Jovian. It was a simple thing that would put the Federation ahead of the citadel council, a simple judge of appearance that would set the council back on their heels.

The Ni-Ta-Koy, despite their hulking appearance and predatory features, were no a brutish race. They were, in fact, some of the most cunning creatures in Federation space, a trait almost always unexpected in the face of their physique. It was a capability they had utilized to great effect during initial meetings with the Federation. Now the Ni-Ta-Koy, despite their relative youth, were key players in the political scene, and some of the most desired legal assistants in the galaxy... And Drazen Mishka was one of the most infamous of them all.

"I was referring, councilor," Mishka rumbled, "to the presence of this space station in Federation space."

"Federation space!" Sparatus exclaimed. "The citadel has been the heart of our civilization for millennia!"

"Then explain why it is in our territory!" the Ni-Ta-Koy growled

"It's not in your territory!" the turian councilor shot back.

"Are you implying that I am creating falsified truths councilor?" Mishka asked dangerously.

Anderson noticed the glint in the alien's eyes, and realized just what his fellow councilor was about to start. "I think-" he attempted to interject, but it was too late. Councilor Spartus, representative of the turian hierarchy and infamous for his short temper, had without yet realizing it, ensnared the entire council in the Ni-Ta-Koy's trap.

"I am implying ambassador," Sparatus almost spat. "That you're wild accusations are inexcusable, and that your very presence is an insult to all the gathered!"

"Is that so, councilor?" Mishka's voice, though it retained its natural rumble, had changed its tone completely. No longer the warcall of a brutish warrior, Mishka now spoke with the grace and cunning of an experienced diplomat many times his senior. Silence was his response, as the turian councilor presumably realized just what he'd walked into.

"Very well then," he growled. "I trust you are aware, councilor, that insulting a foreign dignitary is a very serious affair, and one neither my people nor the Federation will take lightly, especially not when you've relocated your station next to a primary fortress world."

"We never-" Tevos attempted to rebut.

"Mishka did not give the asari time to finish. "Exactly 19 hours, 87 minutes ago, hyperwave decoders in orbit of the planet Norion detected an unknown object, hence identified as the citadel space station in the _ system of the _ star cluster, an area that has been under Federation jurisdiction for over three centuries. As the Citadel is a civilian populated station, this can be seen as an act of aggressive expansion into Federation space, and in the eyes of many radicals, an act of war. Fortunately," had added with a chuckle. "We amongst the gathered are not radicals. Unfortunately, the presence of sizeable fleets in the area indicates not just aggressive expansion, but a large-scale military incursion into Galactic Federation territory, indicative of not just expansion... But intended war."

Shocked silence filled the room as the Ni-Ta-Koy continued. "So understandably councilors, if you are for some reason unable to move your station from this location, than the Galactic Federation of United Species will expect sizeable concessions in return for the procurement of the space this 'citadel' occupies." He paused for a moment, to let that sink in. "Unless, of course," he then continued. "You do not believe us, and instead believe us capable of moving planets across the galaxy on a whim?"

His fellow councilor stunned by their swiftly delivered political defeat at the hands of what had appeared to be no more than a brute, Anderson took the opportunity to put forth his own immediate concerns. "We may discuss the terms of those concessions later, ambassador," he began, ignoring the glares he received from his turian counterpart. "But for now, this council has some serious questions and concerns of its own that it would like to raise."

"I put my faith in your words Councilor," Mishka assured him, "And trust you to keep true to your promise." The Ni-Ta-Koy then stepped back, and allowed his human ally, ambassador Lockheart to step forward.

"I suspect that I may be able to answer those concerns councilor," the human ambassador began. "I suspect that my own people are raising those same concerns at this very moment. However, I think that the best way to appease all parties in this situation, is a simple history lesson. A history lesson about the origins of the Galactic Federation, is races, and later your own people as well."

"I do think that will be acceptable, ambassador," Tevos replied.

"Very well then," Lockheart began, a grin on his face. "About one thousand years ago, on the planet Erde-Tyrene..."

"Humanity was under attack. Yet to even leave our homeworld of Erde-Tyrene, an unknown alien race was already making probing assaults on population centers across the world. The attacks were random, more of a harvest than anything else, and they struck abject terror into the hearts of the human population, for we had little way to respond to the advanced weaponry and mental warfare the aliens utilized, and no knowledge of our aggressors. The few we struck down in combat seemed to fade away as they died, nothing left but the strange robes they all wore. They were the ethereal, and they, along with us and the Jovian would form the founding body of the Galactic Federation; the original triarchy.

The funny thing about Life, is that it comes in all manner of forms. The ethereal, though we did not realize it at the time, were beings of almost pure energy. They couldn't even recognize us, wholly organic as we were, as sentient life, having never encountered it before. They saw Erde-Tyrene and its inhabitants as an immense source of energy, unoccupied by little else and ripe for the taking. We could not communicate with them, nor could they communicate with us... Neither of our races knows whether humanity would have died out as a result of their energy harvest, but it was a tragic misunderstanding regardless, and had the capability to become much worse. It would have to, were it not for the intervention of the jovian.

The jovians existence is more unique than even the ethereal, in that they are neither beings of energy, nor organics, but rather something in between. An organic race supercharged with energy, the jovians could morph their physical appearance to appear as anything they can imagine, provided the size difference is not too great. They're status between the two types of life allowed them to see both humanity and the ethereal as sentient life forms, and when they discovered our planet and the unnecessary conflict it was embroiled in, they intervened."

"The jovians made contact with humanity first," the Ethereal ambassador took over, voice emanating and wavering in strange fluctuating patterns. "Under the guise of a human soldier squadron. They observed the actions of our people on the battlefield, and recognized our sins for what they were. So when one of our ships landed in a rural area of the Uropian landmass, they found their way on the detachment sent to deal with it. When the human detachment encountered us, they revealed everything. The captain of the vessel had his soldiers stand down, intrigued by the sight of fellow energy beings among the clutter, and approached them. From there, it was a simple matter of communication."

"Simple?" Valern exclaimed. "Communications are rarely 'simple.' Differences between dialects, cultures, outlooks... Just how did you cross those gaps?"

"Energy waves are the same universally councilor," Walks-In-Whispers explained. "There is but a single dialect, and cultural outlooks on life matter little on battlefield. Communications with humanity were difficult for both the Ethereal and the Jovian, but working together, the barrier was not insurmountable. Acquiring the trust of the humans however... that task was difficult."

"The jovians were lucky they weren't shot when they reverted back to their natural forms," Lockheart chipped in. "If the commanding officer of that team hadn't recognized the talks for what they might have been, our people probably would have fired too, and that would have made things difficult. Regardless of what-if's, there was an informal cease-fire as the jovians worked to establish proper communications between all three of our races. Once they did, the misunderstandings were recognized for what they were, and the first treaties were laid out. They were tentative, but they laid the foundation for what would become the Galactic Federation of United Species. As time went on, we encountered more and more species, _almost _always in peaceful contact. Now, there are eighteen different races within the federation and several more outside of it."

/\\/\

\/\\/

"So no," Lockheart finished. "We are not a splinter faction of your humanity, and I doubt that yours is a splinter of ours. The differences in technology and history are too great. After we encountered your stealth frigate, Normandy, the best idea our analysts could come up with was that somebody took prehistoric humans and moved them across the galaxy, and even that seems highly unlikely."

The four councilors of the citadel took the Federation ambassadors in, and with a quick look amongst themselves, agreed that it could not be effectively argued with. It did, however, bring back to mind several other points they wished to make. "We noticed that you arrived on this station aboard the Normandy, ambassador," Anderson began.

"Indeed we did councilor," Lockheart agreed. "The crew offered her services, said it would cause less of a disturbance then one of our own patrol vessels. The Olympus is too big for any of your docking berths, so we needed a smaller vessel to take us down."

"We also noticed ambassador," Tevos continued this time. "That while all of Shepard's crew accompanied you, Commander Shepard himself did not. Is there a reason for that?"

At that statement, the human ambassador almost winced. "Commander Shepard, I can assure you councilors, is fine. He is even better than before, in fact. He's just a little... unconscious, at the moment."

"Unconscious!" Anderson shouted, briefly letting anger colour his voice before restraining himself. "I trust that there is a very good reason one of our best operatives was incapacitated on a _diplomatic_ mission?"

"I can assure you councilor that it was not our own doing, and that the Federation does in fact owe a great deal to Commander Shepard." Lockheart explained. "You see, the Normandy made contact with our fleet about the same time as it was engaged by a Space Pirate battle group. The Normandy docked with the Olympus for the course of the battle, and while it was safe from spacecraft attacks, it was not safe from the ground troops that boarded the Olympus during the battle. Commander Shepard lead his squad in defense of both our vessels, and in the process was incapacitated by phazon type weaponry. Our best medical professionals are currently working with him, and their reports will be forwarded to you as soon as they are available."

"Is there a particular reason that _your_ best doctors must work with him, ambassador?" Valern asked, eyes narrowing. "For what reason are our own services inadequate?"

"I assure you councilor that there is no negative intent behind our choice to keep Shepard on our ship. The simple fact is that Commander Shepard's injuries were a result of an incredibly dangerous substance that your people have _no _experience with."

"The council can understand your concerns ambassador," Tevos replied. "However, we are uncomfortable with the idea of leaving one of our best agent in the hands of an unknown foreign government. It is difficult to believe that you would so quickly have our best interests at heart."

"An understandable position to take councilor," Lockheart accepted. "One that, If I were in your position, would take as well. So if you would, I would like to propose a compromise."

Tevos glanced at her fellow councilors, taking note of their slight nods. "The council is listening," she affirmed.

"It is a simple fact that your people do not have the necessary technology to provide proper medical care for Commander Shepard, so long as he remains poisoned by phazon. However, the Galactic Federation cannot discount the competence of your own professionals, nor the dangers of phazon to your own people in the future."

"What is the Federation offering us, ambassador?" Tevos asked.

"The Federation would like to extend its hand in friendship to the people of Citadel space," Lockheart explained. "To do so, we will allow the Citadel Council to send a team of their best medical officers to the Battlecarrier Olympus to monitor Commander Shepard's condition and learn about phazon, the ultra-hazardous substance infecting Commander Shepard's body."

Flicking her eyes left and right, Tevos took in her fellow councilors slight nods before answering. "The council would also like to extend its hand to the Galactic Federation. We will begin assembly of a team immediately," Tevos assured. "Perhaps you would all like a tour of the Citadel space station while we make the necessary preparations?" she gestured to the whole of the Federation diplomatic team.

"I think that a tour of your station would be lovely," Lockheart agreed. "Such magnificent works of engineering as this are rare, even in our own space."

Though he did not realize it, the ambassador's last words had unsettled the council more than anything else said through the entire meeting.

* * *

><p>* Pronounced "Tuh-See-Kay"<p>

_Hope you all enjoyed. On another note, does anybody know of any art hidden on the internet somewhere that would make for a cool cover picture for this story? I cannot for the life of me think of anything, and I'm certainly no artist. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Hell, you might even make a cameo._


	9. New Chapter Incoming!

So I'm not one to believe the words of a fortune teller, but when they told me I would go back to writing fanfiction... Well I guess it's not a sham after all. (Actually, it still is. I just made up the fortune teller bit so this would sound cooler)

Anyway, I've started putting some ideas for the next few chapters on paper, and I've actually got some couple thousand words for the next one written. I can't guarantee that it will come soon, because I'm currently putting the majority of my effort into my new story: Dusk (which I will now shamelessly plug here as an awesome Nocturne/Lux fic in the LoL fandom that you should all go read) but I'm just letting you all know that two years later, this is all back in progress. I know a ton of you guys were enjoying this, and it didn't feel good knowing I was leaving you all in the air like that. Real life issues and a two year depression are behind me now though, and I'm looking to make some awesome things happen.

Anyway, for those of you who still remember this, thank you for your eternal patience, and I just want you to know that your patience will not have been in vain (I hope).


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